Luminescence (Miritama)
by FangirlofMany9503
Summary: Tamaki Amajiki, an up and coming photographer, has only just moved into the city of Musutafu, and it's a lot to deal with. Within seconds of arriving, he somehow manages to get lost. But then a goofy blond named Mirio offers to show him around. But after a while feelings begin to arise between them; what will happen between the two of them?
1. one

**So, I meant to post this on the same day I posted it on Wattpad, which was Monday. It's...Tuesday now, but we'll ignore that little fact for the moment. Update days for this book will be Monday, this is only going out on a Tuesday because I was lazy and forgot to simul-post. But I still hope you enjoy it!**

Tamaki was having a bad day.

That in itself wasn't such a big deal. His days were usually bad, what with all his constant anxiety and such. But today was particularly bad for a multitude of different reasons. One, he was alone. He normally had at least his sister with him back home, but now he was totally on his own, and it was terrifying. Two, he was lost, utterly and hopelessly lost. It was only his first day in Musutafu, Japan, and he was already lost. Just great.

He stood in front of the large map on the wall of the bus stop, repeatedly comparing that map to the map he held in his hands and trying to figured out where exactly he was. He supposed the smartest decision would've been to just ask someone on the street for help, but he couldn't bring himself to approach anyone. They all looked so busy; there was no way he could bother them with his problems.

"Come on, Tamaki." He took a deep breath, gripping the map in his hands tighter. "You can do this. All you have to do is find which bus route goes to Musutafu Apartments. You can do this." He forced himself to focus back on the maps, comparing routes and district numbers, but it was still useless. None of it made any sense to him; it was all so confusing.

He missed the simplicity of his hometown, where everything was confined into one tiny space and it was easy to find your way around. Besides, all the people bustling around behind him were making him nervous. _This was a bad idea_. Tamaki thought to himself. _I should never have come here, what was I even thinking? I'm so stupid...I should just go home--_

"Excuse me!"

Tamaki jumped nearly a foot in the air when his thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a loud exclamation. He looked over, trying to keep himself from trembling as he saw who had called out to him. It was a man, easily twice his size, with blond hair styled up, and oval shaped, bright blue eyes. He was wearing a blue varsity jacket over a white T-shirt and jeans. He would have looked like a typical high school jock, if not for the goofy grin he had plastered across his face.

"I-I-I'm sorry!" Tamaki bowed in apology as the man stopped next to him. "I-I was just t-trying to figure out how to g-get to my ap-apartment."

"Oh no, you weren't in my way or anything." The man smiled and gave him a thumbs up. "I was just going to ask if you needed some directions. You look pretty lost to me."

"U-Uh...yeah...I-I am...but you don't have to--"

"It's fine! I wasn't doing anything anyway. I don't mind helping you out! So, where are you trying to go?"

"M-Musutafu Apartments," he finally gave in. "A-Actually, I'm kinda late meeting the movers who have my stuff."

"Musutafu Apartments? Oh, that's easy. I live there too, actually. Come on, we can go together." The man spun around and headed for the waiting area before turning around again. "Oh, and by the way, my name is Mirio. Mirio Togata."

"O-Oh! Uh...m-my name is Tamaki...A-Amajiki. I-I really appreciate the help."

"Of course! It's not a problem at all!" Mirio broke out into yet another grin and pointed to the train. "Come on, that's the one that we have to take. Follow me!" He turned and started for the bus that had just arrived. Tamaki folded the map and stuck it in his pocket before following him. When he got inside, Mirio was already standing in place, waving him towards him. Tamaki came to stand beside him just as the bus began pulling away from the stop.

"So, what brought you to Musutafu?" Mirio asked.

"Um...well, I decided to move to a bigger city to look for better job offers. I'm a photographer, so it's kind of hard to find offers in a small town."

Mirio nodded. "I see. Are you going to work freelance, or do you plan to work with a company or something?"

"I-I want to do freelance, but I'll have to start out with a company and go from there." Tamaki tried hard not to hunch his shoulders instinctively as he spoke. He hadn't talked this much since leaving home. "I r-really like doing landscape photography."

"That's amazing!" He suddenly exclaimed. "I'll bet you have some really gorgeous pictures on that camera, then. Do you mind if I see?"

Tamaki had nearly forgotten about the camera he still had slung around his neck. It was always there, so he wasn't sure how he'd forgotten. Maybe Mirio was just that distracting. Slowly, he lifted it up and over his head, turning it on and opening up his camera roll. There were hundreds and hundreds of pictures on this camera, seeing as he'd had it since middle school. Most of them were just of things in the town he'd found pretty, but there were some pictures of his family too.

He opened to the last picture he'd taken; a sunset shot he'd taken just before leaving the house he'd grown up in. Mirio leaned over his shoulder to look at the photos and Tamaki scrolled through them, trying not to get nervous by his close proximity. Mirio's soft breath kept tickling his ear.

"These are awesome." Mirio said after a few minutes had passed and they'd went through a couple dozen of photos. "You're really talented, Tamaki."

His face started to burn, and he fumbled with the power button before putting the camera strap back around his neck. "U-Um, th-thank you, but I-I'm really not that good, they're just--"

"Nonsense!" Mirio chuckled. "You don't have to be so modest. You have a real talent there."

That was it, Tamaki couldn't take any more talk about himself. He stuffed his hands in the pockets of his coat to hide the trembling. "Ah, y-yeah, I guess...s-so what about you?"

"Oh, I just started working at the Musutafu Police Department a few weeks ago!" He made the statement with such pride in his voice. He stood up straight and pointed his thumb to his chest with a huge grin. "I haven't been able to do much yet since I'm still a rookie, but I'll be saving people in no time!"

Tamaki felt the corner of his mouth twitch upwards at the sight of him. Mirio just looked so proud and happy while talking about his job, it was almost blinding. He obviously loved what he did with a passion, and Tamaki found that he really liked seeing that look on his face.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by the crackling of the bus loudspeakers announcing they were nearing the next stop. Mirio looked back at Tamaki, the remnants of his smile still lingering on his face. "That's our stop. Just remember route number four, second stop."

"Oh, uh...right. Got it. Route four, second stop." Tamaki nodded, filing the information away in the back of his mind. He didn't want to have to trouble anybody for directions again.

The train squealed to a stop and Mirio grabbed ahold of Tamaki's wrist to lead him through the sudden influx of people hurrying off of the train. The crowd was all one huge blur to Tamaki, who had never been good in crowds, but eventually they ended up outside, away from the other people and waiting for all of them to pass. Once the crowd was gone and the bus had pulled away, Mirio pointed to a huge building on the opposite side of the street. "There it is! Home sweet home!" They waited for the crosswalk light to turn green before crossing the street to reach the apartment building.

Parked along the curb was a moving van, and an incredibly annoyed looking man leaning up against the door. When he saw Tamaki, he pushed away from the van and came towards him with a scowl. Tamaki flinched, sure the worker was about to tell at him for being so late. He opened his mouth to apologize, but stopped when the man just shook his head.

"It's fine. I've had worse before. Let's just get all your things in the apartment."

"Uh, right." The moving van worker spun around to open the back of the van, and Tamaki turned to thank Mirio and tell him he was okay to leave now. But instead he turned around only to see Mirio following the worker with a big smile on his face.

"Y-You don't have to help carry things," Tamaki tried as he moved to stand next to him while they waited on the worker to unlock the van. "You already helped a lot by showing me the way here."

"I don't mind helping. And you can't possibly do all of this by yourself." Tamaki sighed as the worker pulled open the doors and hopped inside the van. He started piling boxes at the edge of the van and Tamaki and Mirio grabbed them and began carrying them inside the entranceway to the building.

He didn't have very much stuff, only five or six boxes, so it didn't take that long to get everything out of the van. Tamaki paid the worker and they headed inside the building. In the lobby, the landlord was waiting for them so Tamaki could sign the deed and get his keys before officially moving into his new apartment. It was on the third floor, so they had to make a few trips up and down the stairs to get all of Tamaki's boxes to his place. By the time they were done, both of them were panting and slightly sweaty.

Mirio swiped a hand across his forehead and grinned, breathing hard. "Well, that's everything! I could help you unpack too if you want."

"N-No, really it's fine. You've done so much already. Y-You should just go home. I'll be okay."

Mirio shrugged. "If you're sure. Anyways, I live on the floor below you. Don't be a stranger, alright?"

"I won't. Thanks again for all the help."

"No problem!" Mirio waved before heading for the door. "It was nice meeting you, Tamaki!"

"You too." Tamaki replied as the door was closed behind him. Once he was gone, he let out a sigh and took out his phone to check his messages. As expected, he already had five unread texts from his mom, and at least ten from his sister. He had one missed call from his mom too. He was just about to call her back when the soft sound of paper rustling pulled his attention away from the screen and to the floor in front of the doorway where the sound had come from.

A small sheet of white notebook paper had been shoved underneath the door, folded in half. Frowning, Tamaki bent to pick it up. Had Mirio left it for him? It had to have been him because who else would have? He carefully unfolded the paper, revealing two sets of numbers with a tiny drawing of a star next to it. It took a solid thirty seconds of staring at the note before Tamaki realized Mirio had given him his phone number and the number of his apartment on the second floor.

He felt his face start to hear up again and was grateful Mirio wasn't there to see him get so flustered. He'd never really had any good friends before, if he was being honest. There were people he knew just from growing up together in such a small town, but he wouldn't have called those people his friends. He didn't know how to feel now that someone was actually going out of their way to communicate with him when they didn't have to. It felt nice.

It took another few minutes before he could switch focus again. He set the paper on the kitchen counter before taking out his phone again and calling his mom. He decided to out the call on speaker so he could get started on unpacking while he talked. Once the phone started ringing, he set it on the counter on speaker and grabbed the first box, labelled kicthen.

She picked up on the second ring. _"Tamaki, honey, you finally called! Did you make it okay? You didn't get lost, did you? Did all your stuff arrive on time?"_

"I-I'm fine, Mom." Tamaki assured her. "I got a little lost, but I made it to the apartment, and all my stuff is here. Thanks for sending it."

"Oh, of course, honey. I'm glad you're alright. And you're sure you don't need me and your sister to come help you settle in?"

"No, Mom, I'll be fine. Cho has school and you have work, s-so there's no need for you to come all the way out here just for me. I can handle myself."

_"You're sure?"_

"Yes, Mom, I'm sure."

There was a small pause before his mom audibly sighed. _"Alright. But only if you're certain you don't need any help."_

"I am. But thank you."

_"Of course, honey."_ There was a shuffling sound, like she had moved the phone. _"Oh, honey, your sister is here, she wants to talk to you."_ Seconds later, he heard the phone being switched from Mom's hands to Cho's and the faint sound of Mom calling something after her.

_"Hey, Big Bro!"_ Cho's voice automatically made Tamaki smile. He'd only been gone a day, and he already missed his little sister. _"Life treating you well out there in the big city?"_

"I've only been here for a day, and I spent practically the whole time lost." Tamaki finished putting away all of the kitchen things and moved onto the next box, labelled bedroom. He carried the box and phone into the bedroom. The room was pretty much completely bare. The only things inside were a built in closet along the back wall and a bare mattress on the bed frame shoved into the far corner of the room. A single window overlooked the busy street below.

_"How's the apartment?"_ Cho continued. _"Is it big?"_

"No, it's actually pretty small." Tamaki told her, setting the phone atop The dressed and the box on the mattress. "I'm unpacking my things now."

_"Oh. Well, how about the city? Is it big?"_

Tamaki nodded and then smacked himself on the head when he realized she couldn't see him. "Y-Yeah, the city is huge. I never would have found my way here if not for Mirio's help." Too late, he realized what he'd said. His face heated again for the third time that day.

_"Mirio?"_ Cho's voice went up at least three octaves. _"Who's Mirio? Oh my God, did you make a friend? Tamaki, this is huge! Why didn't you say anything? Mom! Mom, did he tell you he made a friend? Mom! Mom!"_

"U-Um, you know what, I-I'm p-pretty busy with unpacking things, I-I'll talk to you guys later, okay?" Tamaki panicked and hung up before Cho could get his mom on the line too to freak out about this new information. He sighed in relief as Cho's voice cut off, turning the phone completely off in case they called back right away. He hadn't intended to mention anything about Mirio to them because he knew this was how they would react.

He plopped face down on the bare mattress and sighed heavily. The coolness of the material felt amazing against his flushed face, and before he knew it the long day started to catch up to him, and he felt his eyelids begin to grow heavy. He gave in, allowing his eyes to fall closed and falling into unconsciousness almost immediately.


	2. two

When Mirio made it back to his apartment, he took off his jacket before flopping down sideways on the couch, settling into the cushions with a content yawn. It had been a long, long day. He'd worked two hours worth of overtime that day, and on the way home had run into Tamaki, new to the city and completely lost. There was no way he could've just ignored someone who clearly needed help, and it turned out to be a plus that he was living on the floor above him.

He was just starting to drift off when the loud ringing of his phone startled him awake again. Rubbing his eyes, he sat up and grabbed the phone from his pocket to check the caller ID. It was Nejire Hado, one of his closest friends from high school. He yawned and stood up before answering her call, holding the phone with his shoulder as he headed to the kitchen to grab a glass of water.

_"Mirio!" _She chirped as soon as he answered. _"I have the bestest news ever!"_

"Really? What is it?"

_"It's Yuyu! She asked me to marry her! It was super romantic and everything, we went to the park and while I was feeding the ducks at the pond, she backed up but when I turned around to see what she was doing, she was kneeling on one knee, and she had a ring and then she asked me to marry her!"_

"Are you serious? That's amazing, Hado! I'm so happy for you guys!" He grabbed a glass from the cupboard and set it on the counter, leaning against the wood as he listened to his friend ramble on about the huge event.

_"I know! I'm so happy! We haven't really talked about when the wedding will actually be, but I don't really care because I'm just really happy that she actually wants to get married!"_

Mirio laughed to himself as she talked. Nejire was a bubbly airhead, but she was a big sweetheart and definitely deserved to be this happy. Yuyu was perfect for her; he'd known that ever since they started dating in their third year of high school.

She talked for a few more minutes before something happened on her end and she had to hang up. Mirio congratulated her one last time before setting the phone face down on the countertop and filling the glass with water from the tap. Once it was half full, he chugged the whole thing before filling it again and taking it with him to the living room.

As he settled back down on the couch and relaxed, he found his thoughts unconsciously drifting to Tamaki. He didn't know exactly what it was about him that made him feel that way, but he felt like he'd known the smaller male for forever. Almost like they'd met and become friends from a young age in another world, a whole other universe.

He was glad he'd remembered to give him his number, even if it was in a slightly odd way. He hoped Tamaki would contact him soon; he would love to get to know him better, but he got the sense that Tamaki wasn't the most sociable of people, so he wanted to let him decide if he wanted to keep in contact. If he didn't text or call in a week, he decided, he would assume that Tamaki had no interest in socializing, and leave it at that, no matter how much the thought of it upset him.

Mirio drank the rest of his water and took the glass back into the kitchen to rinse it out. After returning the glass to the cupboard, he let out the biggest yawn yet, and after a quick glance at the clock, he decided it was a good time to head to bed. It was the weekend now, anyway, so it didn't matter just how early or late he went to bed. He stopped to grab his phone in the living room before heading straight for his bedroom. After putting his phone on the charger, he tugged his shirt over his head and trading his jeans for a pair of pajama pants before hopping into bed, falling asleep almost immediately.

_Everywhere he looked, there were cherry blossoms. They were scattered across the grass and along the sidewalks, even in people's hair. Mirio was seated on the grass underneath one of the many trees depositing the blossoms, his back pressed against the trunk. It was all so serene, so peaceful. He could see the dormitories of UA High School rising above the treeline.__"Mirio!" A call of his name in a familiar sing-song tone pulled his attention away from the falling cherry blossoms. He looked up and saw Nejire headed towards him. She was holding hands with Yuyu, who was walking alongside her. Both girls were dressed in their UA uniforms. "There you are, silly!" She giggled, letting go of her girlfriend's hand and rolling onto her back in the grass next to him. Mirio couldn't help but grin at her antics.__Yuyu sat beside her and reclaimed her hand. "We were looking everywhere for you." She said.__"I've been here the whole time." He told the girls. Nejire smiled and rolled over onto her stomach. While she was talking to Yuyu, another voice caught Mirio's attention. This one was much more gentle, more timid. When he looked up to see who had spoken, he was surprised to see Tamaki's dark, messy hair and dark eyes. He was also wearing a UA High School uniform, which didn't make sense because as far as Mirio knew, he hadn't attended UA with him, Nejire, and Yuyu.__Nejire spotted him too and hopped to her feet with her usual goofy smile. "Tama-chan! You're finally here!"__"I...yeah." Tamaki sat down cross legged on the grass on Mirio's opposite side. When he apparently sensed Mirio's confused stare, he turned to him and his expression turned worried.__"M-Mirio?" He asked. "Is something wrong?"__After a few seconds, Mirio shook his head. "No," he smiled at him. "No. Everything's perfect exactly like this."_

Mirio woke up feeling more relaxed than when he'd gone to bed. What exactly did a dream like that mean? He'd only just met Tamaki the day before, and he was already having dreams about him? That couldn't be normal, but he would be lying if he said he didn't like the premise of it. The idea of having gone to high school with Tamaki...well, he had to admit he wished it were really true.

With a sigh, he tossed the covers off and grabbed a change of clothes from his closet before heading for the bathroom. He turned the hot water on and got undressed before stepping in, all the while thinking of how much life would've been different if Tamaki had attended UA with them.

Halfway through rinsing out his hair, he heard his text message tone come from his room. He finished with his hair and shut off the water, pulling a towel loosely around his waist and heading back to his bedroom to check who was texting him this early in the morning. When he brought up his messages, he was shocked to see that is was Mr Aizawa, his first year teacher and a current teacher at his alma mater. It was rare to see him awake so early on a weekend.

_I'm sorry for bothering you so early in the morning, Togata, but could you do me a favor and watch Eri today? Hizashi is out of town, Hitoshi is with his friends, and I have to teach a last minute supplementary class. I can't leave her alone and she can't come with me._

Mirio's mood got even better. It had been several months since he'd gotten to spend a good amount of time with Eri; he'd missed her a lot. _I'd love to watch Eri for the day! We can go to the park or the zoo maybe?_

_She'll like that. Thank you, Togata. I'll drop her off at your apartment in about thirty minutes._

_No problem. Can't wait to see her!_

As he locked his phone again and set it down, a thought occurred to him; he could invite Tamaki to go with him. It would be a good opportunity for him to see more of the city, and he could probably get some nice pictures too. Grinning now, he rushed to get dressed, grabbed his phone and pulled on a pair of sneakers, locking his door behind him as he headed up the stairs to Tamaki's floor.

He knocked three times on his door, only thinking after he'd already knocked that he might be asleep. He checked the time on his phone; it was about six forty five in the morning. It was entirely plausible that Tamaki could still be in bed. He was just about to turn around and head back when he heard the door crack open and saw a single dad blue eye peek out.

He smiled. "Morning, Tamaki! Did I wake you up?"

"No," he said quietly, closing the door to take off the chain before opening it all the way. He was still wearing the clothes he'd worn yesterday, but they were wrinkled, like he'd slept in them. "I've been awake for a while."

"Oh, well, that's good. Anyways, I was going to come ask if you wanted to come with me today. I'm babysitting today, and I was planning to take her out to the zoo or the park. I figured it might be a good way for you to see the city and get some nice pictures. What do you think?"

Tamaki chewed on his bottom lip, contemplating the offer for several minutes. Finally, he swallowed before giving a simple, timid nod. "Uh...y-yeah, that sounds nice."

"Awesome!" He exclaimed. "In that case, you can get ready and I'll wait here for you then we can go back to my apartment together to wait for her to get here."

"A-Alright," he turned and walked back into the apartment. Mirio followed, shutting the door behind him. Tamaki disappeared into what Mirio assumed was his bedroom. Mirio leaned against the kitchen counter; Tamaki's apartment was still extremely bare. He didn't even have a couch yet. There were still a couple boxes piled up in the corner of the room, but he had obviously started unpacking some of the boxes. He saw a few framed pictures on the wall that hadn't been there before. When he got closer, he recognized Tamaki standing with two girls. In one photo, he was a small child, awkwardly holding a baby wrapped up in a purple blanket with a beaming woman standing behind him. In another, Tamaki was older, maybe in middle school, and a little girl was clinging to his side with a grin on her face. And in the last photo, Tamaki was dressed in graduation clothes, standing with the woman he assumed was his mother and an older version of the girl. Both girls were grinning at the camera while Tamaki blushed.

"These pictures," Mirio called out. "Are they your family?"

Tamaki briefly poked his head around the doorway to look at what he was referring to before turning back inside to finish changing. "Yes," he said. "My mom and little sister, Cho."

"They look really nice."

"They are." Tamaki entered the living room again, now dressed in jeans, converse and a white sweater. He grabbed his camera, wallet, phone, and keys before following Mirio back out the door.

"I bet it was hard leaving your hometown." Mirio interrupted the silence between them as they walked back to his apartment. "I couldn't imagine just up and leaving my friends and family to live somewhere else."

Tamaki shrugged. "I-It's not all that bad. I like it here so far, even if the transportation system is a little confusing. I miss my family of course, but they can always visit and I can go home to visit. Plus I...I never really had any friends back home. I mean, there was this one kohai I had...I think his name was...Kirishima? But I never really spoke to him after I graduated. I wonder what he's doing now..."

"Really?" Mirio faced him, eyes wide. "That's kind of a surprise. I don't see why, if I'm being honest."

"Well, I never really talked to any of the other kids in class. I was...am kind of a loner."

Mirio grinned at him as they reached the end of the stairs and headed for his door. "Well, they sure were missing out."

Tamaki didn't respond, but he could see his face flush from the corner of his eye. He unlocked the door to his apartment and walked in with Tamaki behind him. The clock on his phone said it was now five til seven. "They should be here any minute now." He said, sitting down on the couch. Tamaki did the same, albeit awkwardly.

Thankfully, it only took a few more minutes before there was a knock at the door. Mirio hopped to his feet to answer it. Sure enough, there was Aizawa, holding Eri's hand. She was dressed in her favorite red and white dress, black tights and brown boots, with her long white-blue hair framing her face. She was wearing a small black messenger bag over her shoulder She smiled when she saw Mirio. "Uncle Mirio!"

"Hey, Eri!" He opened his arms and she ran to wrap him up in a warm hug. He felt Tamaki come around to stand behind him as he lifted Eri onto his hip.

"Thanks again for watching her, Togata." Aizawa said in his normal tired voice. "I should be done around three or four this afternoon. I'll text you ahead of time."

"Of course! I don't mind at all, sir." He noticed the black haired man eyeing Tamaki behimd him. "Oh! This is Tamaki Amajiki. He just moved into an apartment above me, and he's me to the city so I thought I'd invite him too so he can look around some more."

Aizawa eyed him for a few more seconds before nodding. "As long as you're okay with him." He leaned over to ruffle Eri's haif. "Be good for Mirio and his friend, alright?"

"I will!" She promised with a smile. "Bye, Daddy!"

"Bye, Mr Aizawa!" Mirio called after him as he turned to leave. He closed the door and set Eri back on her feet before clapping.

"So, Eri!" He crocuhed down so he was eye level with her. "Do you wanna go to the zoo or the park?"

"Ummmm...can we go to the zoo? They have all those really pretty animals, and there's those yummy apples too!" Her crimson eyes lit up with excitement at the thought.

Mirio smiled and stood back up. "Of course we can! Zoo it is, then." He turned to Tamaki. "You're okay with that, right?"

"Yeah, the zoo sounds great." A tiny smile crossed his face. "I could get some really nice pictures there."

"Awesome!" Mirio pumped his fist in the air. "Alright, team! Let's get moving! To the zoo we go!"


	3. three

The bus stops were much less busy on a Saturday morning than on Friday afternoon. Probably because everyone was still curled up in bed, sleeping in as much as possible. Not that Tamaki minded being out so early; he found that he rather enjoyed being with Mirio, and watching him with Eri was a pleasure.

He didn't know the story behind it, but it was easy to tell that the two of them were close. Mirio carried let her sit on his shoulders as they waited at the bus stop. Tamaki stood at his side, watching them with a small smile and trying to decide if it would be weird to take a picture. It really was a beautiful sight. The sun was already up, but it was early morning still so there were streaks of orange and pink in the sky above them, illuminating the scene before him in a soft glow. Eventually, he couldn't resist the urge anymore and lifted the camera to his face.

He snapped a side profile picture of them while Mirio was holding Eri's hands above her and she had the biggest smile on her face. The shutter tone drew the blond's attention as Tamaki was lowering the camera. "Did you talk a picture just now, Tamaki?"

"U-Um...yeah, I...I can delete it i-if you wa--"

"A picture?" Eri's eyes sparkled. "Can I see? Please please please?"

Tamaki blinked, hardly registering as Mirio set Eri down and she came up to tug on the sleeve. "Can I please see the picture, Mr Amajiki?"

"Um...s-sure." Tamaki knelt down and opened his camera roll to the new photo. Eri stared at it in amazement while Mirio peered over Tamaki's shoulder to look at it.

"You're really good at taking pictures, Mister Amajiki!" Eri exclaimed after staring at the picture for some time.

"Ah, thank you." He smiled. "A-And you can call me Tamaki. I don't mind."

She nodded. "Okay, Tamaki!" She looked like she was going to say something else when the bus pulled up to the stop. Mirio went first with Eri holding his hand, and Tamaki bringing up the rear. The bus was almost as vacant as the stop had been, with only a few people sitting inside, a good amount of them even asleep.

They were able to get seats instead of having to stand up like they normally would. Eri pulled a small picture book from her little bag and started flipping through the pages while sitting in between the two men. While she was distracted, Mirio shot him a smile. "I think she likes you, Tamaki." He said. "She's not usually this comfortable around new people this quickly."

"Ah--really?" Tamaki rubbed his neck awkwardly. "I wouldn't know honestly...the only experience I have with kids is with my sister."

"You're doing fine, don't worry about it." Mirio assured him. "She's a good kid."

"Huh?" She looked up from her book to stare at the boys with wide, questioning eyes.

Mirio chuckled and ruffled her hair. "It's nothing, Eri." Then he got her focused onto the book again by asking questions about the pictures. She gladly launched into explanations of the characters. Mirio seemed to be listening intently while Tamaki ended up zoned out and staring out the window within a few minutes.

The zoo was on the third stop on their route, but the ride seemed to pass in the blink of an eye. Before he knew it, they were getting off the bus and headed for the entrance to the zoo. There weren't many people there, but more people were starting to arrive now that it was getting later in the day. They approached the admissions desk where both Mirio and Tamaki took out their wallets to pay.

Mirio immediately shook his head. "I'll pay, Tamaki. You should save your money for furniture for your apartment."

"I-I don't--"

"No," He repeated, shoving Tamaki's hand down with his own. Tamaki felt his face start to burn, but he eventually gave in and let Mirio pay. They each got their wristbands to prove they'd paid, Eri's decorated with little cartoon zoo animals. As they walked, she ended up holding onto both of their hands, walking along in between them.

She bounced between exhibits like a pinball, watching each animal go about its day with wide eyes and a huge grin. Tamaki took more than a few pictures of her, as well as quite a few of the animals themselves and the landscapes of their enclosures. At about noon, they stopped at a vending cart selling candied apples and bought one for Eri before moving on to the tiger exhibit.

She gasped as the enclosure came into view, tugging on Mirio's sleeve. "Uncle Mirio, Uncle Tamaki, look! There's little baby tigers down there!"

Sure enough, there were three small tiger cubs playing near what Tamaki assumed was their mother. He took several more pictures of the sight before they once again moved on to the last of the exhibits. They were just finishing with allowing Eri to feed the giraffes when Mirio's phone buzzed and he pulled it from his pocket to check it.

When he'd read over whatever he'd received, he put his phone away and crocuhed down to talk to Eri again. "Hey Eri, you ready to go home now?"

She turned her attention to him instead of the huge giraffes. "Daddy's done with work already?"

Mirio nodded. "Yep, he just texted me and said he'll be stopping at the apartment to pick you up in about an hour and a half, so we should probably leave now if we want to eat lunch before we head home."

She nodded. "Okay," Mirio smiled and stood, taking her hand. Tamaki walked beside him and they all left the zoo together. They took the train back to Musutafu and stopped at a restaurant within walking distance of the apartment building. Mirio ordered a bowl of ramen for himself, katsudon for Eri, and Tamaki chose takoyaki. After they'd all finished eating, they headed back to Mirio's apartment to wait for Eri's father to arrive.

She sat on the couch flipping through another picture book that had been in her bag while Mirio and Tamaki were in the attached kitchen. "You want anything to drink?" Mirio asked.

"No thank you, I'm fine." Tamaki shook his head. "I...wanted to thank you for inviting me out with the two of you today. I had a lot of fun."

"Really? I'm glad!" Mirio grinned. "We should do things like this more often! I really like spending time with you. Next time I babysit, I'll definitely call you."

"I appreciate it."

"Speaking of which, did you get my note from yesterday?" He asked, taking a seat on the barstool next to him. Tamaki fidgeted uncomfortably.

"Um. Y-Yeah, I got it."

"Good, so you have my number saved in your phone now, right? So you can go ahead and call or text anytime you like."

Tamaki felt his face heat up. "O-Okay...thank you."

"No problem!" Mirio exclaimed. Just then, there was a knock on the door and both he and Eri got to their feet, Eri much more energetically. She raced to the door and stood waiting for Mirio to get there to open it. Aizawa was standing there, looking utterly exhausted, but a warm expression came across his face as he saw Eri.

"Daddy!" She squealed, and Aizawa let the little girl run into his arms and hug him.

"Hey there, Eri. Do you have fun today?"

She nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, it was so much fun! We went to the zoo, and there were so many really cool animals, and then Uncle Mirio bought me a candy apple. And there were even little baby tigers!"

Aizawa nodded and took her hand, smiling at his daughter's excitement. "Thanks again for watching her." He said.

"Of course!" Mirio gave him a goofy salute. "Anytime."

They said their goodbyes to both Aizawa and Eri before Mirio closed the door, sitting down on the couch. Tamaki stood awkwardly beside the arm of the couch, not sure what he was supposed to be doing. After a few seconds, Mirio looked over at him and tilted his head a little in confusion. "You can sit down if you want, Tamaki. Unless there's somewhere you needed to be?"

He shook his head, sitting in the corner of the couch. "Um, no. No, I don't have anywhere to be."

Mirio let out a heavy sigh and leaned his head over the back of the couch. "So, how are you liking Musutafu so far?"

"It's great." Tamaki said honestly. "Everything's so beautiful. I've taken so many pictures in just a couple days."

"Good to hear." He smiled. "So, have you looked at job openings yet?"

Tamaki nodded. "A few. When you came over this morning, I was looking around for some, but I didn't really find any that I think would be a good fit for me."

"I could try to help you if you want, maybe?"

"That would be great, thank you." Mirio grinned and reached for the TV remote sitting on the coffee table in front of them.

"Wanna watch a movie?"

"S-Sure," Tamaki took the opportunity while Mirio was scrolling through Netflix to get a better look at him. His look was more relaxed today than it had been yesterday, probably because he'd been working yesterday. His hair was down now and messier, and Tamaki liked the way it curled against the nape of his neck and around his ears.

He shook himself out of his trance. What was he doing, staring at this guy he'd just met? Sure, Mirio was super nice and welcoming, but they'd only known each other for around a day and half now. Tamaki didn't know hardly anything about him, so he shouldn't have been staring at him so blatantly.

His face was burning. He had to leave. "I-I'm sorry!" He burst out, catching Mirio's attention.

"Sorry for what?"

Tamaki jumped to his feet and bowed his head. "I-I just remembered, um...m-my mom was sending some more of my s-stuff over today, and I should go get it now! I'm sorry!"

Mirio smiled and moved to turn the TV off. "I could help if you nee--"

"No!" His voice broke, making him cringe. He probably looked like a total idiot. He wanted to press his face into the corner. "N-No, it's okay, I can h-handle it on my own. B-But I really should go!"

Mirio seemed to sense that he wasn't telling the whole truth, but he knew Tamaki wouldn't make up an excuse to leave unless something was bothering him. So he nodded, leaning back into the couch. "Alright well, it was a lot of fun hanging out with you today. We'll have to do it again sometime, and not just while I'm babysitting. Text me, okay?"

Tamaki raised his head and nodded. "I-I will. Thank you." And then he practically ram for the door. He bolted up the stairs and fumbled with the keys to his apartment before finally managing to get the stubborn key in the lock and entering his own apartment. He breathed a sigh of relief when he was alone. He didn't want Mirio to realize he'd been staring at him like that. He didn't want Mirio to think he was weird, not after how nice he'd been so far. Tamaki didn't think he could handle that.

He decided to continue searching for job offers because he really did need the money. He made a mental note to find the nearest furniture store and plan a trip to buy the basic necessities, seeing as all he had now was the mattress provided by the apartments, and appliances. He headed for his room and put on the sheets and covers he'd brought from back home. Once that was done, he laid down on the bed and brought out his phone, tapping the webpage he'd been looking through that same morning.

When he'd searched up photography job offers, he got a lot of different results, some of them for some rather sketchy companies, so he figured he needed to be a bit more specific. He changed his search to magazine photography job offers, and this time the results were much easier to deal with. He scrolled for a while, a little surprised at just how many there were. Then he stopped at one in particular that caught his eye.

* * *

The description asked specifically for landscape photographers, which immediately drew him in. He clicked the link and it took him to their website and a number to call to set up a meeting about the job. He quickly saved the number and made a reminder on his phone to call them first thing Monday morning, since it was a Saturday after all. With that taken care of, he moved onto using the internet to find the closest furniture store. There was still a lot to do before he was going to be able to be settled down here in Musutafu.

Monday arrived, and Tamaki made his call to the company who'd been asking for a landscape photographer. The person who answered seemed beyond thrilled since they apparently hadn't been having much luck with finding new people, and immediately agreed to an interview later that day.

When Tamaki got off the phone, he was already getting nervous. Why couldn't they just do a phone interview? It would have been so much easier. He was horrible under pressure, and it didn't help that all those new people would be around too. Nevertheless, he knew he didn't have a choice. He got up and went for his closet, trying to pick out an outfit that would make him look professional while not looking like he was trying too hard.

He settled on dark jeans, dress shoes, and a cream colored dress shirt. He spent ten whole minutes attempting to fix his hair before finally giving into the fact that it was never going to stay flat. Once he'd spent another five minutes adjusting and readjusting the collar of his shirt, he grabbed his things, locked the door behind him, and started for the bus stop. He'd made sure to get directions to the magazine company's office beforehand, so this time at least he knew where he was going.

It was a twenty minutes bus ride, but it seemed to pass in the blink of an eye and before he knew it he was standing in front of the building. It was a joint company building, so there were several different companies all inside one building. He checked the address again and saw that the magazine company he needed was on the fifth floor.

He took a deep breath and tried not to think about anything going wrong. As long as he remained calm and collected, he would be fine. He took slow steps towards the door and pushed it open. He spotted the elevator and stepped inside, pushing the button for the fifth floor and pressing himself against the wall as a few more people entered. He closed his eyes and tried to absolute best to melt into the wall of the elevator. He was already nervous enough, he didn't need all these people making it worse. He focused on controlling his breathing, a technique he'd taught himself years ago to help deal with his anxiety.

Everything was going to be fine. He could do this. All he had to do was stay calm.


	4. four

**_I originally had plans to switch between Tamaki and Mirio's POV every other chapter, but I decided to keep it in Tamaki's POV from now on because I had no idea what to try and write in Mirio's POV for this chapter, and every time I tried it just turned out sounding weird and forced, so I gave up and decided to switch back to Tamaki's POV. _**

Tamaki's first impression of the fifth floor was that it was extremely colorful. His second was that it was loud.

There were people rushing around, no apparent order among the chaos. Individual desks were cluttered with little knickknacks and trinkets and drawings, and people called out to other workers from halfway across the room. The walls were covered in all different kinds of pictures; some portraits, some landscape, some pop art paintings and pretty much anything else you could think might be up there.

He was completely frozen in shock for at least a good minute before someone came up to him. It was a really tall guy in a yellow long sleeve shirt and jeans, with messy blond hair and dark eyes. He smiled. "Hey there! Are you Amajiki Tamaki?"

"U-Um...yes?" It came out like a question, which wasn't at all what he'd intended.

"Awesome! My name is Taishiro Toyomitsu, but some of the people here in the office call me Fatgum. You can call me that too if you want, I don't mind. I'm the chief editor for the magazine."

"O-Oh..." Tamaki wasn't sure what to say. How was he supposed to react to so much eccentricity?

Fatgum laughed. "A lot to take in, isn't it? Don't worry too much about it, alright? You'll get used to it and even grow to like it. We're not just co-workers here, we're friends too!"

Tamaki swallowed down the lump in his throat and nodded. "U-Um, yeah...okay."

Fatgum nodded like this response satisfied him and turned to start towards one of the doors along the back wall. "Come with me and we'll get this interview over with."

Tamaki ducked his head and followed the eccentric man into the room, labeled _Chief Editor._ His office was considerably less colorful than the one outside, but there were hints of the same vibe in some parts of the room. A couple pictures on the wall were brightly colored, and there were sticky notes stuck along the edge of his computer screen, most, if not all of them, covered in brightly colored little drawings and scribbles.

Tamaki sat down in one of the chairs in front of the desk while Fatgum sat behind the desk. He kept reminding himself to sit up straight, to not slouch. The last thing he wanted was for this man to think he was lazy because of the way he sat.

"So," Fatgum smiled warmly, which helped a bit but nowhere near enough to eliminate all of Tamaki's nerves. "What brings you here?"

"I-I want a job, sir." Tamaki internally cursed himself for stuttering. "I...just moved to the city and I was looking for work as a photographer. Preferably landscape work."

"Well, that's great! We're a bit short-handed on good photographers lately. We used to have a few, but a bunch of them quit and moved onto bigger companies. We've mostly been relying on drawings and paintings and such, so it'd be nice to have a talented photographer around!"

"S-So what are you saying?"

"Well, I'm getting the sense that you're not exactly much of a people person, am I right?"

"Y-Yes, sir. I'm sorry--"

"No no, that's perfectly fine. Although I will warn you a lot of my employees are rather outgoing. All I want to know is if you're willing to cooperate with them. You don't have to talk to everyone, just work well with them. The last thing we need is conflict between team members. If you can do that, then you're hired!"

"R-really?" Tamaki perked up. He never thought getting this job would be so simple. He nodded. "Of course I can do that, sir! I promise I'll do my absolute best to get along with everybody here."

"Great!" Fatgum clapped and stood. "Then you are now our official landscape photographer. Can you start tomorrow?" Tamaki nodded. "Alright then, if you'll follow me, I'll introduce you to the main person you'll be working with."

Tamaki waited for Fatgum to leave the room first and followed behind him as he made his way to one of the more colorful desks in the outside office. Seated there was a guy who looked maybe a couple years younger than him with spiky red hair and bright red eyes. It wasn't until he turned to face them that Tamaki noticed the tiny scar above his eye and recognized him.

"K-Kirishima?"

"Amajiki-senpai?"

Fatgum stopped, glancing between the two. "You know each other?"

"We went to high school together!" It was definitely Kirishima. There was no mistaking that scar and his friendliness. "I didn't even know you left home!"

"U-Uh, yeah, I left almost a week ago." Tamaki fidgeted with the sleeve of his shirt. "It's...n-nice to see you again."

Fatgum cleared his throat before Kirishima could say something else. "Well since you two already know each other I guess that makes my job easier." He laughed. "Anyway, Kirishima here is the graphic designer in charge of the outdoors section for the magazine, so you'll be working together. Amajiki will be starting on as the landscape photographer tomorrow."

"Really? That's awesome! Glad to have you, man." Kirishima grinned. "So, Fat, did you want me to show him around or something?"

"If you don't mind," Fatgum said. Kirishima hopped to his feet immediately.

"Of course not, I'd love to! Come on, Amajiki!"

"Right, well, I guess I'll leave you two to yourselves." Fatgum patted them both firmly on the back and turned back to his office. "Welcome to the team, Tamaki!"

Kirishima got up from his chair and grinned. "So, what do you say we got out and grab some lunch? I'm starving!"

"S-Sure, that sounds good to me." Kirishima grinned and grabbed his jacket before heading for the elevator. They left the building together and ended up wandering along the streets of the city, eating food from one of the vendor carts along the sidewalk as they talked about anything and everything.

Kirishima went on and on about how he'd moved to the city right after graduating high school and started working with Fatgum only a few months ago. He talked about how he was living with a friend named Katsuki or something who worked as a trainer at a nearby gym. He was still talking when Tamaki's attention was caught by a commotion a little ways away. He glanced up and stopped as he recognized the blond hair, blue eyes, and huge smile dressed in a dark blue police uniform.

Mirio seemed to notice him at the same time. His grin got impossibly wider and he jogged over to them. "Hey, Tamaki! Funny seeing you here, am I right?"

"Uh...yeah. H-Hey..." Tamaki blushed.

Kirishima seemed confused, but quickly shook it off. "Hi! I'm Eijiro Kirishima, I'm working with Tamaki here from now on, and we used to go to high school together. We were just catching up a bit."

"Oh, so you got a job? That's great! I'll have to invite you out to celebrate sometime." Mirio laughed. "Anyways, I should get back to work, but I'll see you later. Bye!" And he jogged back over to where he'd been before. Tamaki nodded and turned around, heading in the opposite direction and trying not to blush too hard.

"So, who was that?" Kirishima asked.

"U-Um...that was Mirio...h-he's just my neighbor. We're...friends."

"Are you sure that's all it is?" Kirishima tilted his head to the side. "It seems to me like there's more to it."

"Wh-What? No!" All the blood in his body rushed to his face and ears in a single instant. "It's n-not like that! He's just my neighbor and friend!"

Kirishima nodded, but it was obvious that he didn't believe a word he was saying. "Alright fine, whatever you say. But just so you know, it's perfectly okay to have feelings for someone. It's normal."

Tamaki slowly lifted his gaze up to Kirishima's face. He was smiling so brightly he could've sworn the sun paled in comparison. If he stuck around people with smiles as bright as his and Mirio's much longer, he feared he might just go blind from all the light. "Um...yeah..." He mumbled, turning away. "I know that."

"Good," Kirishima took a deep breath before stopping. "Well, it's getting kinda late in the day. I should head back to the office and finish up what I was doing before I head home. You should head back home, too. You need to rest up if you're gonna start working with Fatgum on Monday."

"Uh, right." When Kirishima extended his hand, Tamaki tried his best to shake it without trembling. "Thank you for talking with me."

"Oh, it was no problem!" He grinned again. "It was nice seeing you again and catching up, Senpai. See ya later!" And he walked back in the direction of the office. Tamaki watched him go for a while before releasing a sigh and starting his search for the nearest bus stop.

"Bus stop, bus stop...ah, there we go." He sat down on the bench and took out his phone to text his sister and let her know that he'd gotten the job. She texted back immediately saying that both she and Mom were proud of him.

He had just sent his response when the squeaking wheels of the bus came to a stop in front of him. He put away his phone and climbed onto the bus after checking to make sure it was the right bus, mumbling the stop number under his breath so he wouldn't forget. When the bus came to its second stop, he hurried off and caught sight of his apartment building on the other side of the street. It was a small accomplishment, but an accomplishment nonetheless.

There were several other people arriving at the building at the same time, probably headed home from work. Tamaki hurried past the biggest of the groups, avoiding the elevator as well when he saw that it was already full of people. He instead opted for taking the stairs up to his floor where, thankfully, there was no one wandering around in the halls. He took out his keys and quickly ducked inside his apartment with a sigh of relief.

He took off his shoes and traipsed into the bedroom to trade his uncomfortable dress shirt for a much more comfortable white sweater, throwing his favorite gray cardigan on over it. Then he made his way back into the main area and sighed. He really needed to go furniture shopping, and sooner rather than later. Ignoring the barren rooms for that moment, he entered the kitchen, only to stop when he remembered that he also needed to go shopping for groceries.

Tamaki frowned and leaned against the counter, trying to think. Had he seen any grocery stores nearby? In all honesty, he couldn't remember, and he doubted he'd even been paying enough attention in the first place. So he pulled out his phone and did a quick search. He managed to find a store that looked nice and cheap and wasn't all that far from the building. He could probably even walk there and back without having to deal with the most likely crowded buses. He saved the directions to his phone and went to grab a pair of shoes before grabbing his things and once again leaving the apartment.

He was just picking his door when a familiar voice called out to him from down the hall. He looked up and saw Mirio approaching him with his usual sunny grin. He was dressed in normal clothes now rather than the police uniform he'd been wearing earlier that day. He came to a stop next to him. "You're leaving again, Tamaki? But I could've sworn you just got back home."

"Uh, yeah...I need to get some groceries." He picked at a loose thread in his cardigan as he talked.

Mirio blinked in surprise. "You mean you haven't gotten any groceries the entire time you've been here? What have you been eating?"

"Um...leftovers a-and takeout mostly."

Mirio cocked his head to the side. "That's not very healthy, you know. You need proper nutrition! Come on, we'll go get you some good groceries!"

"Uh--we?"

Mirio nodded. "Yep, we! I'll go with you! Since you don't have a car, I can help you carry your things. Besides, there's a couple things I need to get too, so it's really not a problem!"

"W-Well, if you insist..." Tamaki flinched slightly as Mirio grinned and tossed an arm across his shoulders.

"That's the spirit! Now, do you know where the good stores are around here yet?"

"Um, I found this one online." He held up his phone and showed Mirio the one he'd found. Mirio looked it over for a few seconds before nodding in approval.

"That store's good! They sell a lot of really good stuff for really good prices. And a friend of mine owns this small cafe nextdoor, so we can go there after we're done shopping. That sound good?"

"Uh, sure." Tamaki tried his hardest not to make the response come out like a squeak, although his attempt probably failed miserably.

"Alright then, let's go!" Mirio, probably without even thinking about it, reached out and grabbed onto Tamaki's hand. Immediately, Tamaki felt blood beginning to rush to his face and ears, burning like a sauna. He probably looked like a tomato.

Thankfully, though, Mirio remained oblivious to Tamaki's embarrassment. He dragged Tamaki along behind him down the two flights of stairs and into the lobby before making it out to the main street. "The grocery store is about five blocks in that direction." He turned to face Tamaki with a small smile that made his pulse speed up. "Is walking okay with you?"

"Uh, y-yeah." Tamaki nodded, swallowing back the lump in his throat. "I-I don't mind walking, not at all."

Mirio's smile turned into a full on grin, and Tamaki nearly lost it. "Great! Let's get going then. The sun will start setting soon."

"R-Right," Tamaki took a deep breath before following the cheerful blond down the sidewalk. This guy was going to be the absolute death of him.


	5. five

As promised, the walk from their apartment building to the grocery store was rather short, about the same distance Tamaki used to walk each day to get to and from school. Before they had even entered the store, he had already decided to make this place his regular when it came to grocery shopping. The easier each of these new places were, the better.

When they arrived, Mirio grabbed a cart and waited for Tamaki to stand next to him before starting towards the first aisle. "Do you need anything in particular?"

Tamaki pursed his lips in thought. "Um...I guess just the bare essentials for now? Simple things I can use until I start making regular money."

Mirio nodded. "So let's say...milk, eggs, cereal, and microwave meals for now. I can come back with you when you have some more money."

"Right," Tamaki made himself look away as Mirio leaned over the cart, probably totally unaware of the view he was giving the shorter boy. It was enough to make him want to melt into a puddle right there on the floor.

Mirio led them through the store, pointing out which aisles were which and what brands were the best ones to buy. It was all probably useful information to remember, but Tamaki couldn't seem to concentrate on it. His eyes were constantly on Mirio and no matter how many times he caught himself staring, it kept happening over and over again.

"--maki? Are you listening?"

"Ah! Wh-What?" Tamaki jumped, blinking himself out of his stupor to see that Mirio was watching him with an odd expression on his face.

"I asked if you heard me." He repeated, walking over with a small frown. "Are you feeling alright? You look a little red."

"I-I-I'm fine!" Tamaki squeaked. "It's just...kind of hot in here?" It came out like a question, and Tamaki cringed. He resisted the urge to slap his palm to his forehead in frustration with himself.

Mirio either didn't notice or pretended not to. He smiled and nodded towards one of the aisles they were standing in front of. "Go ahead and pick out what you need. I have to get something really fast, so I'll be right back."

"O-Okay," Tamaki watched for a second as he turned down a different aisle. When he was out of sight, he released a breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding. He quickly grabbed some of the things he needed and waited for Mirio to come back. He returned in just a few minutes, placing a bag of bright, red apples into the cart.

"Is this everything?" He asked.

"I-I think so." Tamaki scratched behind his ear, trying to look anywhere but at Mirio's face. His smile was just so, so bright.

"All right then, let's go!" Mirio took the cart and started towards the checkout line. Tamaki followed behind him. He paid for his things and Mirio paid for his and then both boys were outside once again, each of them carrying large bags of groceries. Tamaki was once again thankful for the short distance between the store and the apartment building because he didn't have to walk very far carrying everything.

When they made it back to the apartment building, they stopped at Mirio's first to drop off his things before heading up to the next floor to drop off Tamaki's, since he had more. Mirio stayed to help him put everything away and then they ended up sitting down at the kitchen island counter, both of them thoroughly exhausted. Tamaki was half tempted to lay his head down on the marble countertop and fall asleep right there, but Mirio was with him, and he didn't want to come off as rude.

Just when the silence was beginning to get awkward, however, Mirio turned to face him with a small smile. "Hey, you wanna watch a movie or something?"

Tamaki blinked. "But I...I don't have a TV yet."

Mirio glanced at the other side of the room where, sure enough, resided only empty space. He chewed on the inside of his cheek in thought, resting his chin in his palm. "Hmm...we could always just--" He was cut off by the sound of a phone ringing. At first, Tamaki thought it was his until he realized the ringtone was wrong. Mirio searched through his pockets until he finally found the small device and held it up to his ear.

"Yo!" He greeted cheerfully. There was a pause, and his face lit up in a grin. "Oh, hey, I've got a better idea! You remember the new neighbor I told you about?" Another pause, and it wasn't until Mirio responded to whatever the other person said that he realized he was referring to him. "Yeah, I'm with him now! Why don't the two of you come over here and we can all hang out together?"

"Wh-What?" Tamaki spluttered, but Mirio only winked at him.

"Yeah, Yuyu can come too! And bring games, drinks, and snacks!" There was one more pause before Mirio rattled off the number of Tamaki's apartment and hung up with a simple, "Right, see ya soon!"

When the call was done, he hung up and leaned with a contented sigh. "That was my friend, Nejire Hado. She said she wanted to come hang out with me to celebrate her engagement, so I invited her over here." Only then did he seem to notice the look of utter panic etched across the smaller boy's face. "Uh...is that okay? I'm sorry, I should've asked first."

"U-Um...n-no, it's f...fine. B-But is she..." Tamaki swallowed down the lump in his throat. "Is she nice?"

Mirio broke out into a grin again. "Oh, yeah, she's super nice! She's a bit of an airhead, but she's really cool! I think you two will get along great! And her fiance is a little on the intimidating side at first, but she's nice too, I promise! They'll like you too, so don't worry about it, okay?"

Tamaki nodded, even if he wasn't entirely convinced. He got up and went to put his cardigan away in his bedroom before returning to the living room. He was just about to sit back down when there was a rhythmic knock on the door. Tamaki glanced over to Mirio, who just gave him a nod of reassurance before getting up to answer the door. Not knowing what to do with himself, he ended up standing awkwardly in the area between the empty living room and behind the island counter.

He watched as Mirio moved to the door and pulled it open with a huge grin after briefly glancing through the peephole. Outside, there were two girls, one carrying a stack of tattered boxes and the other carrying two paper bags. They entered the apartment with a lot of smiles and greetings, mainly from the blue haired girl who was carrying the boxes.

"Mirio-chan!" The blue haired girl sang, setting down her boxes and throwing her arms around Mirio's neck in a huge hug. "It feels like it's been forever!"

Just a few seconds into her bear hug, she caught sight of Tamaki and switched focus so quickly it nearly gave him whiplash. She released Mirio and bounced over to shake Tamaki's hand with an enthusiasm that made Tamaki wonder if this girl was even human. "Hi, there! You just be Tamaki, right? Mirio told me about you! I'm Nejire Hado, but you can just call me Nejire! And the beautiful girl over there is my fiance, Yuyu! Isn't she just the best?"

"U-Uh, yeah..." Tamaki didn't know how to respond to that. "I-It's nice to meet you, Hado."

She stuck out her lower lip. " I told you to call me Nejire!"

"O-Okay...Nejire," Tamaki slowly pulled his hand away from her grasp and tried for a smile. "It's really nice to meet you."

"Well now that introductions are out of the way, let's play some games!" Mirio announced, picking up the boxes Nejire had set down and placing them on the kitchen counter.

"Yes!" Nejire squealed. "I brought lots of games! I brought Monopoly, Battleship, Life, and even Twister! Hey Tamaki, which one do you want to play?"

"Um, well...I-I don't really mind."

"In that case, let's play Life first!" Nejire brought out the board game, humming a song to herself as she set up the board and all the little pieces in the middle of the empty living room area. Tamaki remained lingering near the kitchen until Mirio grabbed him gently by the upper arm and gave him a smile and nod. He released him and moved to sit down in the semicircle the two girls had formed. Reluctantly, Tamaki followed, settling down in between Mirio and Nejire.

It wasn't long before Tamaki's nervousness began to fade. Mirio had been right; Nejire and Yuyu were both incredibly nice and neither seemed bothered by his natural quietness. They played round after round of board games, passing around snacks and drinks and telling stories and laughing for hours. Before they knew it, it was pitch black outside, and Tamaki was beginning to get tired. He watched as Mirio placed red pegs into his tiny battleship board, trying to keep his eyes open. Mirio was playing against Yuyu since they'd both won the last round of the game.

"Hey, Tamaki, you alright?" Mirio asked, causing Tamaki to jump. He realized he'd been slumping over onto his shoulder, and hurried to sit up straight, nodding furiously as he tried to ignore the increasing temperature of his face.

"I'm fine." He said, at the same time suppressing a yawn.

Mirio frowned, clearly unconvinced. He looked over at the window. "It is getting pretty late. Maybe we should finish this another time."

Nejire yawned hugely, leaning into Yuyu's shoulder. "You're right, Mirio. I wish we could stay longer, but I am sleepy." She smiled and settled her chin on Yuyu's shoulder, looking up at her with huge, blue puppy eyes. "Hey Yuyu, carry me home?"

Yuyu rolled her eyes and shrugged her shoulder to get the other girl off of her before standing up and stretching. "I'm not going to carry you when we only live a couple blocks away, Nejire. Come on."

Nejire pouted playfully but got to her feet anyway. Mirio and Tamaki did the same, going to see them out the door. The girls took the board games with them before leaving. Once they were gone, Tamaki started picking up the trash from their game night. But suddenly Mirio was beside him, holding out the trash can for him. Tamaki threw away the wrappers he was holding and took the trash can from him. "I can clean up by myself. You should go back home too."

"Nah, it's fine. I don't have to work tomorrow, and I'm not even all that tired. I don't mind helping you out."

Tamaki smiled. "Well...thanks. I appreciate it."

"Of course!" Mirio gave him a huge thumbs up and his signature grin. "What are friends for?"

Tamaki nodded and together the two of them were able to pick everything up in just a few minutes. When there was nothing left to do, the boys said their goodbyes and Mirio returned to his own apartment. Tamaki went back to his bedroom and changed clothes before laying down in bed. Within just a few minutes, he was asleep.

* * *

Several more weeks passed, and slowly Tamaki began to adjust to life in the city. Weeks turned into months, and before he knew it, it was summertime. As it turned out, Fatgum had been right about him growing to like working there; after a little while, he almost couldn't imagine himself working anywhere else. Plus, Kirishima was a fun coworker, always doing something to brighten the day.

The only time where Tamaki didn't enjoy Kirishima's company was when his boyfriend came down to give him something. His boyfriend was blond with crimson red eyes and a permanent scowl on his face, and he was intimidating. After he left, though, Kirishima assured him that he wasn't all that bad, once you really got to know him. Tamaki wasn't so sure about that, but he also didn't want to hurt Kirishima's feelings.

His relationship with Mirio only grew stronger and stronger. He started spending more time with him and Nejire and Yuyu, and it wasn't long before he started to think of them as good friends. Without theirs and Kirishima's help getting adjusted, he was certain he would have given in and moved back to the country already.

But while he thought of Nejire and Yuyu as good friends, he wasn't so sure about his feelings when it came to Mirio. Out of all the people in his life, it always seemed like Mirio was the one he wanted to be with the most. After Tamaki had gotten furniture and the likes, they started having late movie nights every single weekend, just the two of them sitting up on the couch watching movies until ungodly hours of the morning and spending the whole next morning together too. He felt differently when they were alone; it wasn't the same as spending time with any of the others.

He didn't know how to express those thoughts to him, though, so he kept it to himself. He didn't say a word whenever his heart would flutter dangerously when Mirio smiled that sunshine smile of his. He didn't say a word whenever Mirio would laugh and Tamaki would come close to giving little sighs of contentment. He didn't say a single word because he was terrified of how Mirio might react.

One morning, he walked into the office like normal only to be greeted by both Fatgum and Kirishima, both of them grinning like crazy. He frowned, pausing in the elevator as they continued to grin at him. "Um...wh-what are you guys doing?"

"There's good news!" Kirishima said.

"He's right." Fatgum nodded. "Here, come with me and I'll tell you what it is."

After exchanging one more glance with Kirishima, Tamaki followed Fatgum to his office and sat down across from the desk. When they were both seated, he rifled through one of his desk drawers and brought out a small envelope. He set it on the table in front of Tamaki.

"What is this?" He asked, unsure if he was supposed to take it.

"Go ahead, read it." Fatgum nodded to assure him it was okay and Tamaki reached over to grab the envelope. It had already been opened, so he just took out the paper inside.

There was only one paper inside the envelope. When Tamaki took it out and unfolded it, he saw that it was a letter sent to the magazine office by some kind of nature reserve. He quickly skimmed over the letter's contents and realized they were requesting coverage of their reserve in the magazine.

"They have a very nice facility," Fatgum said once Tamaki had finished reading. "They've asked us to do a whole article reviewing their park, complete with pictures and everything."

"Okay...but what does that have to do with me?"

"In order to get good pictures for the article, they've also offered to allow one of our employees to stay on the property for an entire week, totally free of charge. I thought about it for a long time, and I decided that I want you to be the one to go and take all of the pictures that will be used in the article."

Tamaki blinked. "You want...me? To go?" His voice rose at least five octaves. He'd only been working here for a few months. Why would Fatgum choose him over employees he'd probably had for years and years and were a hundred times better than him?

"That's right. You're an extremely talented photographer, and this will be a good chance to get your name out there in the world of photography. You're allowed to take one guest with you too."

"I...um...th-thank you, sir." Tamaki stood and bowed respectfully.

"Of course." Fatgum smiled. "And I trust you have an idea of who you want to invite to stay with you while you're there?"

Tamaki blushed. "Um...yeah...I do." Of course he was going to invite Mirio, who else? But the only issue was he didn't know if he could hide those strange things he was feeling if they were going to be alone together for an entire week.


	6. six

Tamaki never knew his arms could feel so heavy. He was standing in front of the door to Mirio's apartment, trying to lift his heavy arm up to the door to knock. He clenched his fists at his sides and took a deep breath, mentally going over exactly how he wanted to say it.

_I'm going to a nature reserve for five days for work and I'm allowed to take one person with me, so I was wondering if you wanted to go with me?_

He released a long breath and raised his fist before he could start to second guess himself again. He knocked three times on the door, only faltering on the third knock. He immediately pulled his hand back to his chest, resisting the urge to turn and run away. A good thing he did, too, because not a second later, the door came open to reveal Mirio.

He smiled when he saw who it was. "Tamaki, hey! You never come to see me! Come in, come in."

He opened the door the rest of the way to let Tamaki inside. He followed him into the kitchen area and sat down on one of the barstools when Mirio gestured for him to do so. He nervously tapped his fingers on the countertop as Mirio rummaged around in the fridge before finally producing a pitcher of what Tamaki guessed was tea. He poured two glasses, handing one of them to Tamaki before taking a seat next to him. "So, what brought you by?"

"I...have something...to ask you." He swallowed.

"Oh?"

Tamaki nodded, looking down at his fingers as they continuously clenched and unclenched around the sleeves of his shirt. "Um...well...t-today at work, I was told that I was picked to go to this nature reserve and take pictures for an article."

"Really? That's great! I'm really happy for you!"

"Yeah...well...they're letting me stay at the reserve for f-five days, and...th-they said I could bring a-a...guest."

"A guest?" Mirio furrowed his eyebrows for a moment in confusion before it dawned on him, and his mouth formed into a neat O that Tamaki found weirdly cute. "Oh, I see. So you want me to go with you?"

"I-If you're not too busy. I totally understand if you are, I mean with your job and all--"

Mirio laughed, cutting Tamaki off midsentence. "You don't have to be so nervous with me, Tamaki! Besides, I don't think Sir would mind if I took a few days off work. I'd love to go with you! It sounds like a lot of fun!"

Something light and airy expanded in Tamaki's chest, and he felt the corners of his lips lifting in a smile. "R-Really? You'll go?"

"Of course!" Mirio gave him a thumbs up. "I'll call work right now and ask for some time off. When are you leaving?"

"U-Um, I'm supposed to leave on Monday morning."

"Alright! This will be awesome!" Mirio stood up and walked off, dialing a number on his cell phone. Tamaki watched as he stood in the hallway and pressed the phone to his ear, talking to who he assumed was his boss at work.

A few minutes later, he grinned and hung up, coming back over to sit in his chair again. "And that settles it! I can go!"

Tamaki smiled. "That's great. I'm...honestly, I was a little scared you'd be weirded out."

Mirio furrowed his eyebrows and tilted his head in confusion. "Why do you say that?"

"Well, I mean...we've only known each other for a couple months. I was worried you might think this was weird."

"Of course I wouldn't." Mirio chuckled. "There's nothing weird about it all."

The light and airy thing from before began getting warm, and Tamaki felt almost lightheaded. "I'm glad." He said. "Well...I-I should--"

"Hey, why don't you stay and watch a movie with me? I was just about to sit down and watch it by myself, but it's a lot better when you watch it with someone else. Whaddya say?"

"O-Oh, sure." Mirio broke out into a grin and hopped up from his seat, practically skipping to the cabinet to grab a bag of popcorn and setting it in the microwave.

"Go ahead and take a seat in the living room, I'll be there in just a second!" He sang. Tamaki smiled and got up, doing as he said and heading towards the living room to sit down. A few minutes later, Mirio came over carrying a large bowl of popcorn which he set on the coffee table before reaching for the remote and picking out a movie.

Once he'd picked one, he settled into the couch, placing the popcorn in between them before focusing his attention on the movie. Tamaki tried to watch it too, but although it seemed like a good enough movie, Mirio was far more interesting. He ended up staring at Mirio more than the TV screen, and every time he caught himself doing it, he would blush and look away only for the same thing to happen a few minutes later.

He didn't even realize that the movie was over until Mirio yawned and looked over to him with a slightly tired smile. "If you want, we can watch some more, or did you want to go home?"

"N-No, I'm fine!" He started to slightly panic from getting caught staring, but Mirio didn't seem to have noticed it. "But i-if you're tired, I can leave."

"Nah, I'm fine!" He grinned. "Oh hey, I think this movie's new, we can watch it if you want?"

"Sure," Tamaki agreed, not really caring about what movie was on. He watched as Mirio smiled and pressed play before sitting back in the couch again. At some point, something on the TV screen caught his attention, and he ended up focusing on that for a while. When he glanced over at Mirio again, however, he was slightly shocked to see that he had fallen asleep,

He'd fallen asleep with his face half hidden in the couch cushions, and there was one strand of hair lying across his face, just above his nose. Tamaki instinctively reached out to brush it away, only to withdraw his hand moments before touching his face. He pressed that same hand against his chest and slowly got to his feet. He grabbed the remote and shut the TV off, took a throw blanket off the back of the couch and tossed it over Mirio's sleeping form. He switched off the lamp and headed for the door, closing and locking it behind him.

As he was walking up the stairs to his apartment, he realized he hadn't stopped smiling since he left. He was...happy. No, elated was probably a better word to describe how he felt at that moment in time. He was just so happy about the way he and Mirio's relationship was, even if he did feel like there was something more that was being left unsaid between them. For the time being, he wasn't going to pay attention to that feeling, and instead focus on keeping things as good as they were now.

He made it back to his apartment and stepped inside, only stopping to drop off his keys and take off his shoes before heading for his room. He quickly traded his jeans and sweatshirt for a plain white T-shirt and gray sleep pants before crawling into bed. He was still smiling.

* * *

On Monday morning at nine o'clock, Tamaki knocked on the door to Mirio's apartment, carrying his overnight bags over his shoulder and his camera slung around his neck. The door flew open to reveal Mirio, who was grinning like he'd just won the lottery. Tamaki smiled back because it was impossible not to smile when you saw his.

"Morning, Tamaki!" Mirio greeted. He hefted his own bags over his shoulder and stepped out of the apartment, shutting the door behind him. "Ready to go?"

"Yep," Tamaki took a deep breath. "Let's go. It's kind of a long trip, so we should leave now if we want to get there before dark."

"Right." Mirio started towards the stairs and Tamaki followed him. The two boys descended down to the lobby of the building before heading across the street to wait for the bus. He had already looked up what routes They would need to take in order to get to the reserve and which buses were following those routes, so he took the lead, even if he was nervous.

When their bus arrived, they got on and found seats together near the back. They would take this halfway before getting off at another stop about thirty miles from there, waiting for the next bus, which would take them to the stop closest to the nature reserve. All in all, it was going to be a long trip and Tamaki was rather tired. He'd been up almost all night packing up as well as having trouble sleeping due to his thoughts always drifting to how cute Mirio had looked when he'd fallen asleep on the couch the might before.

"You can try and get a little sleep if you're tired, Tamaki." Mirio said, as if reading his mind. "Our stop is number four, right? I'll wake you up when we get there."

"You're sure?"

"Of course!" Mirio grinned and gave him a thumbs up. "You can leave it to me!"

Tamaki sighed, but he was too tired to deny his offer. So he took off his jacket and bundled it up to use as a pillow, leaning against the window and the wall beside him and closing his eyes. It was barely even a few minutes later when he was fast asleep.

* * *

Tamaki woke up a little while later to Mirio gently shaking his shoulder. He blinked and yawned, looking around and realizing that the bus was slowing to a stop. He sat forward and stretched his arms out, putting his jacket back on. The bus wheels squealed as it stopped moving, and both boys stood up, grabbed their bags, and headed for the exit.

He felt a lot better after taking a small nap, so he spent the rest of the trip to the nature reserve talking with Mirio about anything and everything they could think about. The time seemed to pass in a blur as they talked and before they knew it the bus was coming up to their last stop. They grabbed their things and got off the bus, taking a few minutes to stretch out after the long drive.

"Hey, what do you say we get something to eat before we go to the reserve?" Mirio asked, pointing out a restaurant on the corner. "I don't know about you, but I'm starving."

"S-Sure," Tamaki agreed, smiling. Mirio returned his smile and the two of them headed for the restaurant. They entered and sat down at an empty table near the corner. The restaurant looked cozy enough, with not too many people inside and all of them minding their own business. A waitress came over to give them menus and take their drink orders. When she returned, Tamaki ordered takoyaki and Miiro ordered ramen, which Tamaki had come to realize was his favorite food.

"So, Tamaki..." Mirio leaned over as the waitress left with their menus. "You said they had some kind of cabin set up?"

"Y-Yeah," Tamaki nodded. "From what Mr Toyomitsu told me, they only have one place available to sleep on the property, and they're letting us stay there the whole time. Apparently it's an old style log cabin away from the trails, so it's isolated from the reserve visitors."

"Wow, really? That's awesome!" Mirio grinned. "How big is it? It must be pretty big if we're staying for five whole days."

"I know they have a lot of different hiking trails that all lead to different kinds of landmarks and stuff. There was a waterfall and a lake on the website when I looked at it the other day."

"That's so cool!" Mirio exclaimed excitedly. "And you get to take pictures of all of that!"

Tamaki smiled. "Y-Yeah...it's a big deal for me. Thank you again for coming."

"Of course! How could I pass this up?" He laughed as the waitress returned with their food. They both dug in immediately, having not eaten anything since leaving their apartments early that morning. When they were both done, they split the check, grabbed their bags, and headed out.

It wasn't hard to spot the way to the reserve once they were back outside. There were signs lining the roads pointing out the entrance to the park. The name of the reserve was posted on a big arch standing over a dirt path leading up to a small booth where a woman sat by herself, writing something on a piece of paper.

The boys walked over to the booth and Tamaki raised his fist to knock on the window, trying to calm his heart rate and get rid of the lump in his throat. "H-Hello?"

The woman glanced up and smiled. "Hi there, and welcome! Do you want tickets?"

"Uh, no, I'm...Tamaki...A-Amajiki?" He cringed as his voice audibly cracked. "From...the magazine company?"

"Oh, that's right!" The woman nodded and reached for a phone sitting on the desk. "Sir? The photographer from the magazine just arrived...Yes, sir. He has a guest with him, yes...Alright, I'll send them down."

She hung up and smiled at them again. "Continue down the dirt path, the owner will meet you along the way. He was just out feeding some of the animals."

"Th-Thank you," Tamaki bowed respectfully and Mirio did the same behind him. The boys turned back to the trail and kept walking. Sure enough, it was only a few minutes later that a man who looked to be about in his middle ages jogged over, wearing a huge smile. He had long, blond hair pulled back in a very messy bun, green eyes shaded by triangle shaped glasses and rather eccentric clothes.

"Hey, there!" He greeted loudly. "It's super nice to meet you! My name's Hizashi Yamada, and I'm the co-owner of this here park!"

"I-I'm Tamaki A-Amajiki, sir." Tamaki extended his hand for a nervous handshake, which the overly enthusiastic blond man returned immediately. "It's nice to meet you too."

"And I'm Mirio Togata!" Mirio introduced himself. "I'm just here accompanying Tamaki."

"Well, now, are you two ready to see the cabin you'll be staying at?"

"Yes, thank you." Tamaki flinched inwardly at how awkward that sounded, but neither Yamada or Mirio seemed to notice. They blond man turned around and started for another trail, stopping only to look back at them and beckon them to follow him.

Tamaki took a deep breath as he and Mirio started walking along behind him. This was going to be a _very_ interesting week.


	7. seven

Hizashi Yamada led them along the path for another few minutes until they made it to a small log cabin at the end of the dirt path. He stopped right in front of the door and turned back around to grin at them. "Here it is! The best cabin on the premises!"

"It's also the only cabin on the premises." The door opened and a man with long, black hair tied back in a ponytail came out. "I just finished cleaning, so you two can go ahead and check it out."

"Oh, but we should warn you." Yamada gave a nervous laugh. "This was originally a, uh...well, it only has one bedroom."

Mirio tilted his head in confusion. "Okay, and?"

"So...there's only one bed. It was originally a couple's cabin."

"O-Oh..." Tamaki felt his ears redden in embarrassment. Mirio nodded in understanding but otherwise didn't seem all that bothered.

"It'll be fine, Tamaki." He said with a grin and a thumbs up. "We can share the bed. It's not a big deal."

"I suppose that's settled, then!" Yamada clapped and ushered them towards the door. "Go on, go on inside and check it out! If you need anything, you can always find one of us around the main office down the way we came. We hope you enjoy your stay!"

"Thank you!" Mirio called back the two men before he and Tamaki entered the cabin. It was definitely a nice place. The furniture looked old and rustic but in good shape. The surfaces were all shiny, as if they had just been waxed. It was small but cozy. There was even a fireplace against the wall in the living room.

There wasn't a lot to explore, so eventually, they had to go to the last room; the bedroom. Tamaki took a deep breath before pushing the door open. Sure enough, there was only one double bed in the room, pressed against the middle of the wall with a large dresser across from it. In the corner, there was a huge stand up mirror facing the bed. On top of the nightstand was a pamphlet for the park. On the floor next to the dresser was a pile of extra pillows and blankets.

"Like I said, we can share the bed." Mirio spoke up from behind him. "See, look." He headed to the pile beside the dresser and grabbed three pillows before going back to the bed and lined them up in the middle of the bed, splitting it into two sides.

"There!" He exclaimed, putting his hands on his hips. "Problem solved!"

"I-I guess." Tamaki still felt embarrassed, but Mirio didn't seem bothered in the least bit. Maybe it was because Tamaki's feelings towards him were different, but either way he knew these next few days were going to be nerve-wracking.

"So, did you want to go out and explore!" He asked.

Tamaki shook his head. "N-Not today. It's too late to go now. By the time I'd get to anywhere worth taking pictures of it'd be dark, and I might get lost. I'll just wait until tomorrow."

Mirio shrugged. "Fair enough. In that case, what do you want to do?"

"U-Um...I..."

"Let's go see if there's anything in the living area." Mirio turned and headed back out the door. Tamaki released a breath and followed him, gently closing the bedroom door behind him. Mirio was kneeling on the floor in front of the entertainment center in the living room, going through a pile of old board games.

He sat down on the floor beside him and watched as he chose a game. They ended up settling in some kind of trivia game that Tamaki was surprisingly good at and before they knew it, it was starting to get dark outside. Mirio was the one who finally called it a night, telling Tamaki to use the bathroom first to get ready for bed. Tamaki listened, grabbing his pajamas from his bag and heading to the bathroom to take a shower.

He took his time in the shower, still nervous about the whole _sharing a bed_ situation. He still wanted there to be enough hot water left for Mirio, however, so he made himself shut off the water and step out. He dried off and got dressed, brushing his teeth before opening the door and walking to the bedroom.

Mirio was already there, sitting cross-legged on the bed and reading something on his phone. When Tamaki walked in, he smiled and got to his feet. "Alright, I guess it's my turn now. You don't have to wait for me if you don't want to. You can go ahead and go to sleep. I know you have to wake up early."

Tamaki nodded, slowly making his way to the bed while Mirio moved past him to the bathroom. When he was gone, Tamaki laid down on the other side of the bed and pulled the covers up to his chin, his back facing towards the door. He tried to make himself fall asleep before Mirio returned, but he was still awake when he heard his footsteps re-entering the room, despite his best efforts. He pretended to be asleep, which was hard to do once Mirio actually laid down. Even through the makeshift wall of pillows separating them, he could feel the warmth coming from his body. It was...comforting, Tamaki was slightly surprised to realize. Soon enough, he was able to fall asleep with the comforting heat coming from the other side of the bed.

* * *

When he woke up the next morning, that warmth was missing, and he was embarrassed that he could even tell as much without having to look. He sat up and stretched, walking out of the bedroom to see where Mirio was at. He found him in the kitchen cooking eggs and bacon.

When Mirio saw him, he smiled. "Morning, Tamaki! Did you sleep well?"

Tamaki wasn't about to tell him it was probably the best sleep he'd had in years. "Y-Yeah,"

"That's good." He turned back to the stove and flipped an egg. "You hungry?"

"Um...yes."

"Well, I'm almost finished here. If you want to get dressed while we wait, go ahead. Oh, and I hope you don't mind, I made the eggs scrambled."

Tamaki shook his head. "N-No, scrambled is fine. I'll just go get dressed." He hurried back to the bedroom and picked out his clothes from his bag. He got changed in the bedroom and ran a brush through his unruly hair before heading back to the kitchen. Mirio was just setting two plates of scrambled eggs and bacon on the table. They sat down and ate together, silent but comfortable. When they had finished, Tamaki grabbed his camera and started for the door. He stopped, however, when he noticed that Mirio was following behind him, pulling on a pair of boots.

He turned around. "You're coming with me?"

"Yeah!" He grinned. "I figured it'd be a lot better than staying inside and doing nothing. Besides, you're gonna see lots of really awesome stuff taking your pictures! I don't wanna miss out!"

The corners of his mouth twitched upwards in a small smile. "Okay...sure. I planned on focusing on wildlife for today, if that's okay with you?"

"Of course! I love animals!"

This time, a full smile spread across his face. "A-Alright, let's go then."

They walked out of the cabin and headed down the trail. They hadn't gone very far when they saw Yamada. When he spotted them, he broke out in a smile and walked over to greet them. "Morning, you two! Was the cabin alright?"

"It was great!" Mirio exclaimed.

"I'm glad to hear it! So, are you two going to take pictures?"

"Yeah," Tamaki lifted the camera from around his neck. "I thought I'd try and focus on the animals for today."

"Animals, huh? Well, I don't think you'll have much trouble finding them. They're everywhere around here."

"Alright," Tamaki nodded. "Thank you."

"Of course! Good luck!" And with that, he waved and started walking in the direction he'd been going. Tamaki and Mirio kept walking along the path which eventually led into the line of trees. They only had to walk a few more feet before they came across their first animal. Tamaki noticed it first, and stopped in his tracks, holding an arm out to stop Mirio.

He pointed to the other side of the path, where a deer was standing, staring at them. Tamaki moved as slowly as he possibly could and motioned for Mirio to stay quiet and still. He nodded and they both remained still as statues, trying not to scare off the deer. After a few more minutes, the deer returned to what it had been doing before. It lowered its head and started eating at the grass again. Tamaki made sure to move slowly as he lifted his camera up to his face.

He took several pictures of the door before it eventually ran off. He lowered the camera, still thinking about the beautiful deer. He was so caught up in his own thoughts of the animals and the pictures that he'd entirely forgotten about Mirio behind him. He suddenly chuckled, making Tamaki jump almost a foot in the air.

"Sorry," Mirio was still smiling. "It's just that you look so happy. I couldn't help myself."

"I-I did?" Tamaki blushed. "I-I'm sorry. It's just that I get so distracted when I'm taking pictures...I'm sor-"

"Well, it's nothing you need to apologize for. It's your passion, I totally understand. And besides...it's kind of nice seeing you so happy about something you love. I might have to watch you take pictures more often."

Tamaki flushed and turned away. "Th-Thanks...I guess. W-We should probably keep moving."

Mirio agreed enthusiastically and they continued on their way. They encountered all sorts of animals along the path. There were deers, squirrels, birds, practically any animal you might expect to be living in the woods all around. At one point, they stumbled across a small lake with a family of ducks gliding across the surface. Tamaki took so many pictures of them all that he was slightly worried he might have used up all of his camera storage.

By the time the sky began to turn orange, he had taken at least 200 or more pictures, and that was just the animals. He was in a really good mood as he and Mirio walked back to the cabin for the night, unable to wipe the content smile from his face. As soon as they were inside, he made a beeline for his laptop and started transferring the pictures. He could hear Mirio in the kitchen area, but he was too preoccupied with his work to see what he was making. He didn't even realize a whole hour had passed, and before he knew it Mirio was there with a plate of onigiri. Tamaki took it, slightly embarrassed that he'd spent so long absorbed in his pictures that Mirio had had time to cook an entire meal.

He hadn't realized just how hungry he was until he took that first bite and nearly moaned. He chewed and swallowed quickly, desperately praying Mirio hadn't noticed. Thankfully, he didn't seem to have noticed anything. He sat down on the sofa beside Tamaki with his own plate and glanced over his shoulder at the laptop screen, which was displaying one of the pictures of the duck family.

"This looks amazing, Tamaki." Mirio grinned. "Do you mind?"

"Ah, no." Tamaki slid the laptop towards him and watched as he clicked through the pictures. He was surprised to note that he seemed to be entirely transfixed on the photos, something he wouldn't have expected from Mirio.

"You're amazing, Tamaki." He said out of the blue after a while. Tamaki blinked, realizing he'd zoned out for a second.

"Uh, wh-what?" He blushed and instinctively hunched his shoulders up over his ears. "What are you t-talking about?"

"I'm talking about you, Tamaki." Mirio slid the laptop away from him and turned his entire body on the couch to face him, even though Tamaki was making a point to look everywhere but at him. "I said you're amazing."

"S-Stop it," Tamaki was starting to tremble. "Y-You're embarrassing me..."

Mirio smiled softly. "But I mean it." He continued. "You're so creative and talented. And it's amazing to see how much you clearly love your work. It's just so amazing."

By that point, he was shaking so much he worried he might end up shaking the couch. He had no idea how he was supposed to respond to Mirio's praise, and he was panicking. He tried to remember the methods he'd been taught to help ease his anxiety in the past, but his memory was failing him.

"Tamaki...?" Mirio seemed to realize his comment had freaked him out in some way. "Are you okay? I-I'm sorry if I...uh..."

"N-N-No...y-you're okay..." Tamaki took a deep breath and folded his hands together, clutching them to his chest. He was definitely shaking hard enough for Mirio to notice. "I-I'm just n-not used to...c-compliments...is all."

"Oh, I see." Mirio chuckled. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to freak you out. I always just say whatever's on my mind, and sometimes it gets me into trouble."

"N-No!" Tamaki flinched when he realized he'd ended up shouting that. Mirio stared at him with a surprised expression, and Tamaki rushed to continue his train of thought out loud. "I mean...y-you don't have to a-apologize. I...I appreciate it."

Hearing that, a huge grin spread across Mirio's face. "Well, that's a relief!" He laughed. "I was worried I'd scared you off for good or something!"

He started laughing again and Tamaki couldn't help but smile at the sound. He liked seeing Mirio laugh. It always put him in a better mood, relaxed him and calmed his nerves. Within just a few minutes, his trembling had stopped and his shoulders naturally relaxed all on their own.

Mirio calmed down and went from laughing to simply grinning, but he still shone just as brightly as before. "Anyway...I'm still sorry about that. I really need to work on my filter."

"Y-You don't have to do that." Tamaki shook his head, slowly lowering his hands into his lap and directing his smile at them instead of Mirio. "I-I think...I think you're perfect j-just the way you are. You don't need to change at all."


	8. eight

The next morning, Tamaki woke up even earlier than Mirio. He wanted to get started earlier than the previous day since he planned on capturing pictures of the individual plant life around the reserve. It was going to take even more time and work than yesterday's endeavors, so he wanted to make sure he had enough time to get it all done by the end of the day.

He got dressed and grabbed a few granola bars to take with him on the way, but stopped just as he was about to step outside of the cabin. Mirio was still asleep in the bedroom, and he didn't want him to be worried when he woke up. So he closed the door again and grabbed a notebook and pen. He scribbled out a note explaining where he was going and when he thought he might be back, then he went back to the bedroom and left the notepad on the nightstand in the bedroom.

With that taken care of, he returned to the main area and left the cabin, making sure to close the door quietly behind him. He walked along the same path they'd taken yesterday and, sure enough, there was a lot more that he needed to photograph than before. He ended up stopping every other step to take a picture of some interesting flower or plant, even the trees.

He stayed out for what must have been at least several hours. When he was finally sure he'd taken all the pictures he could, he started along the path back to the cabin. It had to be late afternoon by that point, and his stomach was growling loudly. The granola bars he'd brought with him hadn't nearly been enough to keep him fed for the entire day. When he made it back to the cabin, he was immediately greeted with the smell of something cooking.

Inside, sure enough, Mirio was at the stove, stirring something in a pot. When he heard the door opening, he turned and smiled. "Welcome back, Tamaki! Did you get good pictures today?"

"Y-Yeah," Tamaki took off his shoes and went to set his camera down next to his laptop before returning to the kitchen. "I-I would have waited for you to wake up this morning, b-but there was just so much to get, s-so I decided to--"

"Don't worry about it. After all, you are on the job." Mirio smiled and turned off the stove burner. "But I assume you're hungry after working so hard all day long. So, I made ramen!"

"Y-You did?"

"Yep!" Mirio used his spatula to lift some of the noodles from the pot. "I hope you don't mind."

"O-Of course not! Th-Thank you." Mirio grinned and started separating the contents of the pot into two bowls. They took their bowls to the table and dug in. Tamaki hadn't realized just how hungry he really was until he tasted the food, and he was finished in just a few minutes.

The rest of the evening passed with the two of them finding ways to occupy the time. They played board games and talked until they got tired and both of them decided to call it a day. Tamaki would never admit it aloud, but he was starting to get used to feeling Mirio's warmth on the other side of the bed. He was slightly worried that he might have trouble getting to sleep without that warmth when it was time for them to go home.

The next morning, Tamaki decided he was going to focus on landscapes for the day. Since Mirio had woken up first, he made breakfast once again before they both set out. They walked down the same path as the previous days, going back to the same spots Tamaki had taken pictures of the animals and plant life, only this time focusing on the land itself instead of each individual part. It was a lot easier and took much less time. He ended up finishing at around one that afternoon, which meant they still had some time to kill before the end of the day.

Mirio suggested they spend the day at the lake, and Tamaki had to admit he liked the idea. He'd brought a pair of swimming trunks with him just in case, and judging by Mirio's enthusiasm regarding the lake, he had to. So they went back to the cabin so Tamaki could drop off his equipment and they could both get changed before heading down to the lake.

It was a warm day, so the coolness of the water felt nice. Tamaki didn't get in all at once like Mirio, however. He sat down on the shore of the river and let his feet sit in the nice, cool water and watched as Mirio continuously submerged and reemerged from the water. After several minutes of this, Mirio seemed to grow bored and swam over to him, pushing his dripping hair out of his face.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

Tamaki folded his hands in his lap. "U-Um, I just don't really feel like getting in is all..."

"Why not? Do you not like swimming?"

"I-I don't know." Tamaki blushed and glanced away. "It's been forever since I last went swimming."

"Really?" Mirio grinned. "In that case, you have to get in!"

"N-No, really, I'm fine!" Tamaki insisted, but he could tell that Mirio wasn't about to take no for an answer. He tried to pull his feet up out of the water and move away from the shore, but Mirio was faster than him. He pushed himself up and was able to wrap his arms around Tamaki's waist. Tamaki let out a shriek as he was pulled down under the water.

Mirio kept holding onto his waist even after they had both surfaced. He was laughing, and despite his embarrassment, Tamaki couldn't help but laugh too. He'd been too nervous to swim before, but now he didn't feel like getting out.

Both of them were so distracted laughing that they didn't realize the position they were in until later. Tamaki was the first to notice, and immediately his smile melted. He realized that at some point he had laid his hands on Mirio's chest to stabilize himself, and moved them down to his sides. He'd been blushing before, but now his face felt like it was on fire.

"U-Um, M-Mirio?" His voice came out like a squeak, and Mirio finally seemed to realize. He immediately released his hold on his waist and laughed it off awkwardly. Tamaki swam towards the shore and tossed his now soaked T-shirt onto the grass beside Mirio's before sinking below the water again to hide his face.

"Sorry about that," Mirio said when Tamaki surfaced again. "I guess I just got a little distracted."

"I-It's fine," Tamaki assured him, even though he could still remember the feeling of Mirio's arms and large, warm hands around his waist. The memory only made him blush harder, and he immediately turned away to hide it.

They ended up spending most of the rest of the afternoon at the lake. When they started getting tired later that day, Tamaki was sure it must have been about five o'clock. They got out of the water and used the towels they'd brought to dry off as much as they could before starting back towards the cabin.

Tamaki was tired when they finally made it back, not to mention still embarrassed about what had happened at the lake. He let Mirio take a shower first while he uploaded all of his pictures onto the laptop. Once Mirio was finished, Tamaki took his turn in the shower while Mirio started cooking.

While he was washing up, Tamaki allowed himself to think back to that moment where Mirio had held him in his arms. It had felt so natural that he hadn't even noticed it was happening until they calmed down, and based on Mirio's reaction, he assumed it had been the same for him. But what did that mean? Did that mean he liked Mirio?

Well of course he liked Mirio. He'd been such a huge help to him since moving into the city, and he was just a really nice, cheerful person. He was funny, sweet, supportive, and upbeat, not to mention handsome beyond a shadow of a doubt. He was the exact opposite of Tamaki, and yet...Tamaki's hand froze on the handle that controlled the water as the realization finally hit him.

_I have a crush on Mirio._

In all honesty, he realized he'd felt this way for a while now, but until that moment he hadn't known what it really meant. He didn't know what he was supposed to do. Should he tell Mirio about his feelings? Or would doing that only scare him off? The last thing he wanted was for Mirio to cut him out of his life. He'd grown so close to him by that point and had come to rely on him. He'd even began thinking of the upbeat blond as his own personal sun. Without him, he felt like he might shrivel up and freeze. He needed Mirio, the way in which they remained together didn't matter to Tamaki.

Although he did find his thoughts drifting to what Mirio might be like as a significant other. Before he realized it, he was full on fantasizing about him while still standing under the hot stream of water.

Mirio probably wouldn't be all that different from how he normally was. He would still make corny jokes and do everything he possibly could to put a smile on people's faces. He would still be the same cheerful, upbeat, friendly Mirio Tamaki had come to like so much. But...to his significant other, Tamaki imagined he might reveal a new side. A more...provocative side.

An intense heat spread all the way from Tamaki's face and neck and shoulders almost to his waist. He immediately tried to cut off the images his mind wanted to come up with regarding that like of thought and Mirio. It was too weird to think of him like that when he was right in the other room. And if he took too long in the shower, Mirio might come check on him, and he knew he wouldn't be able to handle that.

With that thought in mind, he quickly shut off the water and stepped out of the shower. He dried off and got dressed into his pajamas as fast as he could. His cheeks were still red from the short fantasy he'd had, but thankfully Mirio didn't seem to notice anything off.

"There you are, Tamaki!" Mirio laughed when he entered the room and sat down at the table. Mirio set down two plates of takoyaki balls. "You were taking so long, I was getting kind of worried about you."

"I-I'm fine. Thanks f-for the food." Mirio smiled and gave him a thumbs up, taking the seat across from him.

"Of course! My pleasure!"

Tamaki smiled as they both started eating dinner. He couldn't help but indulge himself in one more small thought about Mirio. He imagined that, if he did end up having that sort of relationship with him, it would be days like these he'd love most of all. Days where he could just be with him, no matter what they were doing.

* * *

The next day, Tamaki finished taking pictures. He'd gone out early again while Mirio was still asleep, planning on searching the reserve for any plants or animals or landscapes he'd missed the previous day's, but found nothing. On the way back to the cabin, however, he ran into Yamada.

The blond man broke out into a huge grin when he saw him. "Hey there, Amajiki! Picture taking going well?"

"U-Uh, yeah. I think I'm m-mostly finished now, actually."

"Finished already? Man, you're good! If that's the case, why don't I bring Shota to the cabin later and you can show us the pictures? We can decide which ones we want to use for the article then."

"Th-That sounds great."

"Awesome! Then I'll just go find Shota and be right on over! See you in a minute!"

He kept walking, waving over his shoulder as he went. Tamaki waved back before continuing along the path to the cabin. Mirio had prepared lunch again, smiling as Tamaki entered the cabin and took off his shoes at the door. "Welcome back! Didn't think you'd be here so soon."

"I finished." Tamaki gave a small shrug. "There's nothing else for me to photograph. I ran into Mr. Yamada on the way back, and they're going to be here in a few minutes to decide which ones they want to be used."

"It's a good thing I made extra, then!" He announced proudly, gesturing to the bowls of katsudon he'd made.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, there was a knock at the door and Yamada and Aizawa arrived. They sat down at the table as a group and ate the katsudon Mirio had prepared. After they were done eating, Tamaki went to retrieve his laptop and show off the pictures. He watched anxiously as the two men scrolled through all of them.

"S-So?" He asked after they'd looked at all of them. "What do you think?"

"I think," Aizawa muttered. "You deserve a raise, kid."

Mirio started laughing, but all Tamaki could do was blush at the compliment.

"Shota's right!" Yamada cried out, collapsing over the table dramatically. "How are we supposed to choose when they're all so good?" He whined.

"Th-They're not that great." Tamaki stuttered, still flustered. "It's this place that's amazing. Everything here is so beautiful, of course the pictures are too."

"No, really. The last photographer we hired ended up taking more pictures of the sky and his feet than the actual grounds." Yamada laughed.

"S-Seriously?"

"Seriously," Aizawa sighed. "I think we're going to need a little more time to pick between all of these. Would you mind putting these on a file or something so we can look at it back at our place?"

"O-Oh, I actually did that already." Tamaki went back into the living area to retrieve the flash drive loaded with the pictures and handed it to them.

"Thanks, kid." Yamada grinned. "I have to agree with Shota, you deserve a serious raise. We'll make sure to talk to Mr Toyomitsu about that."

"Y-You don't have to--"

"And in the meantime, feel free to enjoy yourselves!" Yamada kept right on talking. He leaned forward and started stage whispering like he was revealing some sort of secret. "Just between us, there's a small hot springs on the northwest corner of the grounds. We don't usually let people use it this late at night because Shota's worried about sanitation and stuff, but I'm sure he'll let it slide if it's the two of you."

"I can bear you, you idiot." Aizawa thumped him on the back of the head. "But he's right. If you want to use the hot springs, go right ahead. The code to the lock is 0505."

"Wow, thanks a lot!" Mirio grinned and waved them off as they left the cabin, but Tamaki was too stunned to say anything.

A...hot springs? It wasn't fair. There was just no way he would be able to keep himself from acting strange in a situation like that.

But Mirio was already moving to the bedroom and grabbing towels and such. He returned to Tamaki's side with a big grin. "Whaddya say, huh, Tamaki? Care for a late night trip to the hot springs?"

Tamaki gulped and gave a single, shaky nod, taking the towel Mirio was offering to him. "S-Sure...l-let's go.


	9. nine

**_5/1/2020 EDIT: I was made aware of a HUUUUGE mistake that I made regarding this particular...arc? I guess I can call it an arc. Anyways, TheMasterfulShipper on FanFiction pointed out that I had already introduced Aizawa in the chapter where Mirio babysat Eri with Tamaki at the zoo. I never even realized I'd made this mistake until they pointed it out to me. So, I went back and rewrote several parts of this arc to make the owners be the Wild, Wild Pussycats team instead. You probably don't need to reread anything, just letting you know so you don't get confused! (PS: I'll be adding this same PSA to the start of the next several chapters in case anyone doesn't see it, along with the chapter going up on Monday, the 4th of May.)_**

Tamaki was trembling with nerves and anxiety. He was still in the shower area long after Mirio had gone on ahead to the bathing area. He couldn't bring himself to leave the showers and join him in the bath. He knew that Mirio was in there waiting for him, but he also knew that he was in there naked, and just that tiny little thought nearly brought him to his knees with nerves.

He was standing with his back to the wall beside the entrance to the bathing area with his towel wrapped around his waist, trying to get up the courage to join him. He knew the entire upper part of his body was probably as red as a fire hydrant, but he couldn't help it.

He was so busy fighting with his internal self that he didn't notice Mirio approaching the entrance. "Tamaki?" He called, making the smaller boy freeze in his spot.

"Are you okay in there?" He asked, staying just outside the room so that they couldn't see each other, but could still talk. "You're taking a long time."

"I-I-I'm fine!" He flinched when the words came out as a pitiful squeak.

"Are you sure? Do you need me to-"

"N-No! I told you, I'm fine!" Tamaki balled his right hand into a tight fist and pressed it against his chest, feeling the rapid pounding of his heart. "I-I'll be out in just a minute."

"...Okay, if you say so." Tamaki waited until he heard Mirio's footsteps and the gentle sound of water as he returned to the bath. Then he released a breath of relief and slowly stepped away from the wall until he was standing directly in front of the entrance.

"Come on, you can do this. It's just a bath. You can do this." He raised his trembling hand and moved aside the curtain separating the two areas. He stepped out of the shower area and slowly started towards where Mirio was sitting in the bath. Tamaki was grateful when Mirio didn't look up at him until he was actually in the water.

He was still blushing, but if Mirio asked he could always blame it on the temperature of the water. Mirio glanced over at him and smiled before leaning back even farther and relaxing with a huge sigh. "I can't remember the last time I went to a bathhouse this late at night."

"I-I never have before," Tamaki admitted.

"Really?"

He nodded. "Y-Yeah. I've been to a bathhouse only once, but it was the middle of the day a-and there were...so many people..."

"Oh, I understand." Mirio opened his eyes and looked over at him, which immediately made him blush even deeper and sink further into the water.

"Y-You do?"

"Was that why you were taking so long in the showers?" He asked. "You were nervous?"

Tamaki pressed his lips together and turned his face away, but nodded. "Um, yeah..."

"It's fine, although you should know I would never try to embarrass you like that."

"I-I know that!" Tamaki cringed at having shouted the words. What was wrong with him? "Y-You're too nice to try and do something like that on purpose. It's just me."

"Well, if it's any consolation, it isn't like you have anything to be ashamed of."

He felt his body temperature rise about ten more degrees, which at that point didn't seem possible and yet there they were. "Wh-What is th-that supposed to mean?"

"What is mean is you don't need to be embarrassed about your body." Mirio turned his head to face him. Tamaki half expected his face to be playful, but he looked totally serious.

"I-I don't know what you mean..."

Mirio sighed and readjusted so that his entire body was turned towards him. "I'm trying to say that you're attractive, Tamaki. It's a good thing, so you don't have to be embarrassed. At least, you don't have to be embarrassed with me, okay?"

Tamaki blinked, unsure of how to reply. Had Mirio just told him he was...attractive? Was that really how he felt? Did he feel the same way as Tamaki did? Or was he just saying it in a supportive, friendly way to try and make him feel better?

"Tamaki?" Mirio waved a hand in front of his face. "You in there?"

U-Um, yes!" He squeaked, backing away a little when Mirio's face got a bit too close. "I-I'm fine, you just...surprised me is all."

Mirio smiled softly. "You'll just have to get used to it, I guess. Because I don't plan to stop giving you compliments anytime soon."

He leaned in even closer until their noses were practically touching. Tamaki gulped. He was already pressed as close to the wall of the bath as he could get so there was nowhere for him to scoot to. Even if he'd been imagining something exactly like this hours before, now that it was happening he felt like he was going to explode.

"Wh-What are you doing?" He whispered.

"To be honest...I've liked you for a really long time now. I wanted to tell you months ago, but I was worried I might scare you off." He dropped his gaze to his hands, which began gently caressing the back of Tamaki's palm. His hands were shaking, but he didn't pull away from Mirio's touch. "But I spoke on the phone with Nejire while you were out working, and...she convinced me to confess to you today. I'd planned on just asking if we could go to the lake again, but then Yamada and Aizawa let us in the hot springs, so...I figured here would be as good a place as any, you know?" He laughed awkwardly, starting to back off a little.

Tamaki opened his mouth to say something, but no sound came out. He shaped the words, but still, nothing. Finally, he gave up trying to speak and instead scooted just the tiniest bit to try and show Mirio what he was trying to say without actually saying it. Thankfully, Mirio seemed to understand.

He looked back up at him with wide eyes. "You're sure?"

Tamaki nodded once, subconsciously hunching his shoulders up over his ears. He probably looked like a fire truck judging by how hot his skin felt, and he knew he could no longer blame it on the temperature of the water.

"Okay," Mirio announced before closing the distance between them again. "I'm going to kiss you now, okay? Are you okay with that?"

Tamaki nodded again, his eyes already squeezed so tightly shut that the start of a headache pounded against his temples. He felt Mirio's warm, familiar hand slowly come up to rest against his cheek. It was so gentle that Tamaki hardly even registered the touch, and then Mirio's lips were on his and he felt as if he had burst into flames.

He gasped involuntarily at the sudden sensation, which made Mirio freeze for a second. He was probably worried he'd somehow hurt or scared him in some way, so Tamaki reached out a shaking hand and pressed it lightly on his chest, urging him to keep going. Mirio got the message and leaned into the kiss.

Tamaki had never been kissed before unless you counted familial kisses from his sister and mom, but he didn't count those as real kisses. The real thing was a million times better, even if he felt clunky and awkward as he tried his best not to headbutt him or anything. He might actually die of mortification if that happened.

Mirio was just as soft and gentle as Tamaki had imagined him to be, but the longer the kiss lasted the more eager he seemed to get. He moved the hand that had given him the feather-light touch at the beginning down to the back of his neck and lightly pushed him forwards. Tamaki wasn't about to complain about it.

They kissed for several minutes before they had to break apart to breathe again. When they did, Tamaki immediately pulled out of Mirio's grip, scooted several feet away, and covered his face with his hands, completely and totally mortified. What had he just done? There was no way Mirio actually wanted to do something like that with him. Why had he let that happen? He must have been dreaming.

"Tamaki?" Mirio sounded concerned. "What's the matter? Did you...not like it?"

Tamaki shook his head, still hiding his face behind his hands. "Th-That's not it!"

"Then what is it?"

"I-I'm sorry," He pulled his knees up to his chest to further hide his face. "I just...I don't know how to respond."

He heard Mirio laughing softly and felt the water move as he moved to sit next to him again. Tamaki kept his face hidden as Mirio leaned his head over onto his shoulder. "It's okay. You don't have to say anything." Tamaki nodded, even though Mirio probably couldn't see with the way he was positioned.

"Why don't we go ahead and go back to the cabin?" Mirio asked. As he stood up, Tamaki could hear the water dripping off of his body and down back into the water. Some small part of him was absolutely begging him to look up at him, but he resisted the urge.

"I'll go first, okay?" Mirio told him, and Tamaki waited until he heard the sound of footsteps heading back into the shower area to raise his head and get out of the water. He dried off as well as he could and got dressed before exiting the bathhouse entirely and meeting up with Mirio outside. He was completely dressed, leaning up against the wall waiting for him.

When Tamaki exited the bathhouse, he smiled and held out his hand. He blushed but accepted it anyway, walking alongside him as they headed back down the dark path to the cabin, only the flashlights on their cell phones to guide the way.

When they made it back, both of them immediately decided to turn in for the night. They would be leaving tomorrow morning, and Tamaki wasn't sure how to feel about everything that had happened. What did it all mean? Were he and Mirio a couple now? Or something else?

He laid down in the same bed as Mirio, just as they'd been doing for the past few nights, but tonight was different for obvious reasons. The makeshift barricade of pillows had been discarded, and he could feel Mirio's body heat even more intensely now. He wasn't sure what to expect, but when Mirio ended up wrapping an arm around his waist, Tamaki couldn't say he was complaining. It felt nice, and even that was an understatement. However, it still didn't answer the question rolling over and over inside his head-what were they to each other now?

The next day was their last day at the reserve. Mirio convinced Tamaki to meet up with the owners one last time before they left, leaving him alone to finish packing up. He felt guilty leaving Mirio to do all the work by himself, but he wasn't taking no for an answer, so Tamaki ended up doing as he said and going to meet up with the reserve owners.

Their meeting was relatively short. They explained which pictures they wanted to use and had already saved copies of all of them and sent the ones they wanted to be featured on ahead to Fatgum's office. Tamaki thanked them for allowing them to stay for free and for letting them use the bathhouse, to which they all exchanged knowing glances before assuring him it was no big deal. Tamaki prayed there wasn't some kind of surveillance camera in that area that had captured the whole incident from the previous night. That would have been mortifying.

None of them mentioned anything about it, though, and eventually, Tamaki made it back to the cabin. Mirio was waiting on him there, all of their things packed up and ready to go. He had made a simple lunch which they ate before gathering their bags and heading out, making sure to lock the cabin behind them.

They walked back towards the reserve entrance and dropped the key off with Mandalay before leaving. They sat down at the bus stop to wait. Mirio was sitting very close to him, but he didn't make an attempt to reach for his hand. Did that mean he was ashamed to do so in public?

"Tamaki? Are you okay?" Mirio's voice shook him out of his thoughts. Tamaki glanced up and nodded.

"Y-Yeah, sorry, I'm fine." He gave a small smile that he knew would do nothing to convince Mirio he was telling the truth, but it was the best he could manage with the way his thoughts were racing to tell him anything that would make him feel horrible.

As expected, Mirio didn't look convinced in the least bit but before he could say anything else, the bus arrived. Tamaki shot to his feet and immediately got on, scanning his card for both of them before Mirio even had the chance. The bus was almost completely empty, thankfully, so they sat down in one of the seats at the back.

They spent the entire trip back to the city and their apartment building in silence, but it wasn't awkward even if Tamaki couldn't stop thinking about everything. By the time they made it back to the apartment building that evening, he was just as confused as when they'd left.

Mirio walked him to his door despite Tamaki's protests. He stuck his key in the lock and was just about to push open the door when Mirio reached out and grabbed his wrist. He jumped slightly at the contact since Mirio hadn't tried to touch him once since they left the reserve unless you counted the occasional brush of his shoulder or arm against his.

He turned around and met Mirio's gaze. He was smiling and leaned forward to place a gentle kiss on his cheek. A small, pitiful sound escaped his mouth and he felt his face begin to heat up. Mirio backed away and chuckled slightly at the effect he had on him. "If you want to talk, you know where I live." And with that, he turned and headed back to the stairs to go back to his apartment.

Tamaki was left standing with the door half-open, stunned and blushing and unable to move. And somehow, he was even more confused now than he had been all day.


	10. ten

**_Before this chapter starts, I wanted to let you guys know that this story will be ending soon. I'm planning to make it end at around twelve chapters, but I promise to make these next few chapters as good as I can! I have the entire rest of the story planned out now, and I think you guys are going to love it! Thank you all so much for reading this book! I love you all!_**

Two weeks passed since they returned from the nature reserve, and Tamaki's life had more or less returned to normal. He and Mirio didn't meet up as much, only seeing each other on weekends and such. Despite how little they'd seen of each other since everything that had happened at the reserve, Mirio always greeted him with a smile and a friendly wave when they passed each other. And when they did spend time together, he didn't try to kiss him once. The most he ever did was hold his hand.

One Friday evening, Tamaki was sitting on the couch going through an album of photos he'd taken for the company when there was a knock at the door. He knew it had to have been Mirio, so he called out that the door was unlocked. Moments later, Mirio came in and walked over to where he was sitting, leaning over the back. "Afternoon, Tamaki!" He greeted with a big smile. "What are you doing?"

"I'm just finding pictures to use for the next article in the magazine." He explained. Mirio came around and sat down next to him, watching over his shoulder. He watched in silence as Tamaki clicked through all of the photos, deleting the ones that hadn't turned out as good and separating the ones that had turned out well. Up until he was completely finished, Mirio stayed beside him and continued to watch.

Once he was done, he closed the laptop and set it down on the coffee table and leaned back into the couch with a sigh. Mirio immediately reached over to grab his hand, bringing it up to his lips and placing a gentle kiss to the back of his palm. "I actually came over to ask you something."

"Y-You did?" Tamaki turned his eyes up to the ceiling while his face got hotter and hotter. "Wh-What was it th-that you w-wanted to ask me?"

"Well, you remember Nejire and Yuyu?"

"O-Of course,"

"Their wedding is coming up this Sunday, and I was wondering if you'd like to go with me?"

Tamaki blinked, replaying the words in his head a few times to make sure he'd heard him correctly. "Y-You mean...as your date?"

Mirio nodded. "Yep! The wedding is on Sunday evening at the beach on the other side of the city. And Nejire keeps asking when she'll be able to see you again, so...what do you say?"

"U-Um, sure..." Tamaki tried for a smile, but it probably came across as awkward and shaky. "But...I don't really have anything to wear."

"Neither do I if I'm being honest." Mirio laughed. "I'm planning to go shop for a suit tomorrow. Do you want to come with me?"

"S-Sure,"

"Great! I'm sure this will be a lot of fun. I can't wait." Mirio said.

"Y-Yeah," Tamaki smiled. "So do you...want to watch a movie or something?"

"Sure, there's this new movie out on Netflix I wanted to watch but I haven't gotten around to it yet." Tamaki handed him the remote and watched as he scrolled through the movies looking for the one he wanted to watch. A little voice in his head was screaming at him that now was the time to ask the question that had been bugging him since they left the reserve.

The next morning, Tamaki woke up earlier than usual and couldn't fall back asleep. He'd been up half the night tossing and turning while he racked his brain about anything and everything he knew about relationships from books and television. In the movies, did the couples usually talk about their relationship status after the first kiss? No, because the screen always faded to black and the book always ended before that could happen. Why didn't the media do more to help him figure out what he was supposed to do in his own life?

He sighed, getting up out of bed and trudging to the bathroom to take a shower. He was going suit shopping with Mirio today, and the last thing he wanted was to see Mirio without having washed up first. Once that was done, he went back to his bedroom to choose what clothes to wear. After much indecision, he ended up settling on a plain white shirt and a gray cardigan with jeans and black sneakers. It was still somewhat cold outside despite being April.

He still had several hours before the time he and Mirio had agreed on, so he made a bowl of cereal and sat down on the couch the watch TV for a while. He ended up watching some romance movie he'd probably watched years ago with Cho, but now he actually tried to pay attention to the way the main couple interacted with each other. There were a couple things he recognized as something similar to him and Mirio, but the majority of the main characters' interactions were so clearly scripted and cliche that he had to turn it off halfway through because he got so annoyed.

He went to the kitchen to wash his bowl just as there was a knock at the door. Startled, he turned off the faucet and glanced up at the clock on the wall. "It's already time?" He mumbled, quickly drying his the bowl and his hands and placing the bowl back in the cabinet before going to answer the door. Sure enough, Mirio was there, greeting him with a smile as soon as he opened the door.

"Hey, Tamaki!" He waved. "You ready to go?"

"I-I guess," he stepped away briefly to grab his wallet and keys. "Sorry, I m-must have lost track of time for a bit."

"No worries," he chuckled. "You have eaten, right?"

"I...yeah," Tamaki smiled softly. "I'm good. Let's go."

"Alright!" Mirio reached out and grabbed his hand, pulling him towards the stairs. "This will be fun! It's kinda like a date, don't you think?"

"A-A date?" He stammered, but Mirio didn't seem to have heard him. He let himself be dragged along until they made it down to the lobby. They walked to the train station together while Mirio told corny jokes. Tamaki couldn't help but laugh at his goofiness. His cheerfulness almost forgot about his own anxieties. Almost.

He continued telling his jokes up until the train arrived. They had to stand up for the ride this time around, but Tamaki didn't mind. Especially when Mirio launched into another joke, clearly doing all he could to make Tamaki laugh. It was working. He hardly even realized when they'd arrived at their stop, but thankfully Mirio did, grabbing his hand again and pulling him down the steps to the sidewalk.

"Over there," He pointed to a small shop on the corner of the street. "I've been in there a few times to buy suits. They have a nice selection for cheap, so it's a good place."

"G-Great, let's go then." Mirio grinned and tugged him inside. The shop was small but cozy. There was only one employee that they could see, a teenage boy humming to himself while he neatly folded a pile of dress shirts. When the bell over the door rang, he looked up and flashed a grin that seemed to actually sparkle in the lights.

"Welcome welcome, mon amis! Are you here for our glorious collection of magnificent apparel?"

Tamaki wasn't sure how to respond to that. Beside him, Mirio laughed a little before whispering to him, "This guy's worked here for as long as I can remember. But he's nice. A bit strange, but nice. Don't worry about it, okay?"

Tamaki nodded, although he kept a fair amount of distance between himself and the sparkly blond boy. He introduced himself as Yuga Aoyama before leading them to one of the many racks of suit jackets hung on the walls of the store. He started mumbling to himself about colors, sizes, and styles while Mirio and Tamaki both stood waiting for him to apparently choose something for them.

"Aha!" Aoyama cried after a few minutes of debating with himself. He pulled a dark blue suit with a red tie from the rack and handed it to Mirio. "Here you go, Mon Ami. Try it on."

"Sure," Mirio flashed him a small smile before heading to the small dressing room. Tamaki resisted the urge to ask him to stay. Luckily for him, Aoyama immediately returned to his work, scouring the racks for another suit. He was still looking when Mirio exited the dressing room, wearing the suit. Tamaki held back a tiny gasp at the sight.

Mirio looked absolutely amazing, and even that was an understatement. He wore a long-sleeve white dress shirt underneath a dark blue vest, matching slacks and a red tie. The suit also made his muscular build that much more noticeable. It was perfect for him.

Mirio smiled and rubbed awkwardly at his neck. "Well, what do you think, Tamaki?"

"I-I think you look great." Tamaki glanced at Aoyama, who had turned around the admire Mirio in the suit as well. He wanted to say more, so much more, but he was too embarrassed to do so with him there.

"Oui, mon ami! You look simply fabulous, just as expected!" Aoyama praised. "I believe I've outdone myself again."

"Alright, well, I guess I know which suit I'm getting." Mirio laughed. "What about you, Tamaki? Find anything yet?"

"O-Oh, um..."

"Non, mon ami! I always choose the suits that best suits my customers. If you can wait just a bit longer, I promise I will find the best choice for you, mon ami!"

"O-Okay then," Tamaki smiled awkwardly.

"It's fine, take your time." Mirio said to Aoyama as he turned to go back into the dressing room. "We have all day."

"Merci!"

Mirio pulled the curtain on the dressing room closed and Aoyama returned to his search, still muttering to himself things that made no sense to Tamaki. A few minutes later, Mirio exited and came to sit down beside him on the bench. Both boys watched as Aoyama picked up different suits and laid them out on the countertops, making choices between them under his breath. Finally, he picked up a smaller, light brown suit and handed it to him. "It took some time, but I assure you this suit will be perfect for you, mon ami."

"Th-Thank you," Tamaki hugged the plastic-wrapped suit to his chest as he started for the dressing room to change into it. He carefully removed the outfit from its covering, not wanting to damage something so fancy. It was a nice suit, he had to admit. Not that he'd ever worn many suits to begin with.

Tamaki shook his head, expelling unrelated thoughts. He set down the suit on the chair and began undressing, deliberately avoiding looking in the mirror. He pulled on the pants first, then the white undershirt, followed by the vest and finally the tie, which he didn't even bother trying to tie. He left it hanging around his neck with the best half closed over it and turned to look in the mirror.

Despite the fact of his tie being completely messed up, he had to admit that the suit did look quite nice on him. The back of the best was dark brown and the front light brown with a checkered pattern on it. Slightly embarrassed, he moved to the curtain and slowly pushed it aside. Both Mirio and Aoyama had been waiting for him, and each of their faces lit up when they saw him.

Mirio stood up. "Tamaki, I...you look awesome!"

"Oui oui!" Aoyama struck an odd pose. "But of course he does, mon ami! The suit is perfect for him, just as I thought!"

"It really is," Mirio said, grinning and giving him a thumbs up. "I think we've got our winners."

"Of course! I'll just ring the both of you up then! Merci!"

Aoyama moved behind the counter to the register and Mirio followed after shooting Tamaki one last encouraging smile. Tamaki blushed, immediately closing the curtain again and changing back into his clothes as fast as he could. He returned the suit to its wrapping and left the changing room, setting it down on the counter. Aoyama picked up both suits and neatly folded them before placing them each in separate bags and giving them back. "Merci, you two! Come again!"

Mirio waved goodbye to the young boy as they left the store. They walked aimlessly down the sidewalk together, not even sure where they were going but not really caring nonetheless. After about ten or fifteen minutes, Mirio spoke up again. "That was fun. And you looked so incredibly handsome in that suit. I didn't want to say what all I was thinking in front of Aoyama. I didn't want to embarrass you."

"Y-You too," Tamaki flinched. "I-I mean, you looked incredible in your suit too, I was j-just..."

"I know," Mirio grinned. "Don't worry. Tomorrow, we'll both get to see each other in those suits all day long."

Tamaki couldn't help but smile at the thought. Mirio really had looked amazing in his suit. "Y-Yeah...I'm really looking forward to it."

He grinned and they walked back to the train station together while Mirio came up with more jokes to entertain him along the way. When they did make it back to the apartment, Tamaki found himself wishing the outing would never end. He liked hanging out with Mirio like this. It felt simple, easy...not at all confusing. It was like, for a few hours, he'd been able to escape from his own unclear thoughts about their actual status.

Mirio walked him to his door again but stopped him just before he was about to walk inside by reaching out and gently grabbing his shoulder. Tamaki turned around to face him, a questioning look on his face. "U-Um, yes?"

"Is there something wrong, Tamaki?" He asked, concern in his voice. "You hardly spoke at all on the way back, and your face is really easy to read. I can tell something is bothering you. You can always tell me if something's going on, you know."

Tamaki's chest felt tight. He stammered for a response before finally just shaking his head. "N-No, I'm fine, everything's f-fine. Don't worry about it, okay? I-I'll...see you tomorrow, okay?"

He didn't look convinced in the slightest, but he apparently decided not to push the subject. He nodded and let his hand fall back to his side. "Alright, if you say so. But don't forget what I said, okay?"

Tamaki nodded. "I won't. Thank you...so much, Mirio."

"Anytime!" Mirio grinned and gave him a thumbs up before turning and strutting towards the stairs. Tamaki watched him until the top of his head disappeared, then closed his door with a sigh. He really needed to get ahold of himself.


	11. eleven

It took two hours for Tamaki to finish getting ready in the morning. As soon as he woke up, he set out the suit on his bed, still being extra careful not to damage it in any way. Then he went to take a shower and pulled on a simple T-shirt and sweatpants while he ate breakfast. No way he was going to risk getting food on the fancy suit. After that was done, he started on the daunting task of getting dressed.

The majority of the suit didn't pose a problem. He wasn't so useless that he couldn't even figure out a button-up shirt and vest. It was the tie that proved to be a problem. He spent ten whole minutes struggling with it before giving in and reaching for his phone to search up a tutorial. But the tutorial he tried didn't help much either, and by the time he heard the knock at the door that told him Mirio had arrived, he still hadn't figured it out.

Frustrated, he stormed away from the mirror to answer the door. Mirio was wearing the dark blue suit, and he looked just as handsome in it as he had the day before, if not more today since his hair was slicked back as well. He smiled fondly when he saw the tangled mess Tamaki had made of his tie. "Do you need some help?"

"Please," He sighed. Mirio chuckled again, wordlessly stepping inside and untangling the mess he'd made before carefully beginning to tie it the right way. Tamaki tried to watch him but just ended up flustered at his close proximity, so he looked away.

It barely took Mirio a minute or two before he was done. He stepped back with a grin, admiring his handiwork. "There, perfect." He placed his hands on his hips. "So, you ready to go?"

"I-I guess," Tamaki quickly went to grab his phone, wallet, and keys from his room before following Mirio outside, making sure to close and lock the door behind him. They walked down to the lobby together.

Tamaki half expected them to head for the train station, but instead, Mirio started for a car parked in the parking lot of the building. He paused on the curb, watching as Mirio pressed a button on his keychain and the car door clicked unlocked. "You have a car?" He asked.

Mirio glanced up from where he'd been opening the driver's side door. "Oh, no." He laughed. "It's not mine, it's just a rental. I figured taking a car to the wedding would be easier and safer."

Tamaki nodded; it made sense. He stepped down from the curb and got inside the car. As they pulled away from the apartment building, however, he started to get nervous. After all, he'd only met this Nejire woman and her fiance once before. How could he be sure they'd even liked him? Would they even want him to be attending their wedding?

He jumped as he felt Mirio's hand against his, glancing up to find him giving him a reassuring look. He squeezed his hand and smiled. "Hey, you don't have anything to worry about. Nejire and Yuyu both liked you a lot the last time you met. Nejire has been asking me for weeks when she can see you again, and she was beyond excited when I told her you were coming today. So don't worry, okay?"

Tamaki took a deep breath and nodded, repeating Mirio's words over and over in his head to reassure himself. He watched the road disappear through the window as Mirio started the car and pulled away from the parking lot. It was about a thirty minute drive from their building to the beach property where the wedding was being held, so he pulled out his phone to find something to occupy himself with.

After replying to a message from his sister, he ended up reading on his phone. Mirio turned on the radio, and they both sat there in comfortable silence. Tamaki would have been content just to spend the entire day like this in the car with Mirio. Unfortunately, nothing lasted forever, and sooner than he would have liked, they had arrived at the beach venue.

He took a deep breath while Mirio turned off the car. "Hey," Mirio started, bringing him to look up at him. "It'll be okay, I promise. And I'll be right there if you need me."

Tamaki nodded. "Thank you,"

He grinned. "You're welcome. Now, you ready to go or do you need a few minutes?"

He shook his head, unbuckling his seat belt and sitting forward. "No...No, I'm okay. L-Let's go,"

"If you say so." Mirio unbuckled and got out of the car, Tamaki following his lead. They walked down the beach to where the wedding was set up. The sun was already starting to set, turning the water gorgeous shades of pink and orange. Thankfully for Tamaki, there was hardly anyone except for Yuyu, who was talking to a man in a gray suit.

She was dressed in a white lace blouse with a pure white tank top underneath and white high-waisted pants, her short reddish hair the same as it always was. As they walked up to them, Yuyu said something to the man and he nodded and walked off. She turned and grinned at them. "You guys are early. Nejire's in the beach house. She said she doesn't want us to see each other until the ceremony."

"That sounds like her." Mirio chuckled. "You mind if we go talk with her?"

"Of course not, I'm just waiting for them to carry in more chairs." She said, pointing to the two people who were carrying in chairs from the van parked on the street. "Go right ahead,"

Mirio smiled and gave her a short hug before gesturing for Tamaki to follow him to the beach house. There was faint music coming from inside, so Mirio knocked and waited for the music to be turned down before entering. Nejire was standing in front of a full-body mirror, but she turned around and squealed when she saw the boys coming in.

"You're here!" She bounced over and wrapped them both in a big hug.

"Of course we are." Mirio laughed. "I'd never miss your wedding, and I knew you wanted to see Tamaki again."

"I did, I did!" She turned to Tamaki, her entire face lit up brighter than a Christmas tree. "I've missed you so much, Tama-chan!"

"T-Tama-chan?" He spluttered but didn't pull away when she hugged him. Despite having only met the girl once, he felt oddly comfortable around her, like he'd known her all his life. Not to mention her cheerfulness was contagious and was helping him overcome his anxiety.

"U-Um, thank you for i-inviting me..." He said.

"Of course!" Nejire stepped back and started bouncing in place. "I couldn't get married without you and Mirio here!"

"We wouldn't have missed this for the world," Mirio assured her, giving her another hug. "You look amazing."

Nejire giggled and ruffled her dress. Tamaki took the time to look at what she was wearing. While Yuyu had been wearing the blouse and pants, Nejire was wearing a crop top paired with a long, sheer lace skirt with a pure white slip underneath. Her hair was pulled up in a half ponytail with the bottom part curled. She did look beautiful, and Tamaki was quickly ashamed to realize he was grateful she had Yuyu so Mirio was still single.

"Well, we should go find seats. The ceremony will be starting soon." Mirio told her. Nejire pouted and gave them both one more hug. "We're really happy for you, Nejire."

She waved them goodbye as they left. Outside, more and more people were starting to arrive. Tamaki didn't recognize a single person there. Just when he was about to freeze up, however, Mirio reached out and grabbed his hand, giving him a reassuring smile. Tamaki returned it as best as he could, following Mirio to two open chairs in the front row.

A few minutes later, soft music started playing from a nearby loudspeaker. Tamaki, along with everybody else sitting in the audience, turned to watch as Yuyu stood at the bottom of the steps to the beach house. A few moments later, the door opened and Nejire stepped out, still grinning brightly. They linked arms and walked down the aisle together to meet the officiator standing underneath the wedding arch.

As he watched the ceremony, he couldn't help but let his thoughts wander. The way Nejire and Yuyu looked at each other, it was clear they were completely and totally in love. There was absolutely no doubting that fact when he saw them interacting. The way they looked at each other, the way they touched, even their body language spoke volumes.

Did Mirio look at him like that? Did Mirio gently touch his arm and smile and laugh like Yuyu did, making Nejire giggle and smile back at him with eyes so full of love? Did Mirio always have his body angled in such a way that it seemed like he never turned away from him like Nejire was doing? He couldn't recall Mirio ever doing any of that. Did that mean...his suspicions had been right? They weren't really dating, and it had just been his own desires? Did Mirio even really like him, or was it all just some kind of twisted game?

The sound of applause broke him out of his thoughts, and he rushed to applaud with the crowd so no one would notice that he'd been totally zoned out. Nejire and Yuyu broke out of their kiss and turned to face the crowd, both of them smiling so wide it looked painful. He and Mirio stood up and followed the newlyweds towards the beach house patio, where several tables were set up outside.

Everything seemed to blur around him, and Mirio was the only thing he could rely on to keep him steady. He didn't even realize that the cake had been cut until Nejire and Yuyu came over, both of them holding two plates. Yuyu handed one to Tamaki and Nejire handed one to Mirio. "Thank you," He said softly. Yuyu nodded and the four of them sat down at one of the tables while other people sat down around them.

They talked about anything and everything while Tamaki just listened and smiled. They really were good friends, and it was easy to tell it had been that way for a very long time. Tamaki wished he could have gone to school with the three of them. He imagined he would probably find it much easier to converse with them if that were the case.

"What about you, Tama-chan?" Nejire asked him something out of the blue, knocking him out of his thoughts. "What were you like in high school? What kind of friends did you have? Were you in a club?"

"U-Um, me?" He stammered, getting nervous. "W-Well...I never really had any friends. I mostly stayed by myself. But I...I was in the photography club."

"The photography club? That's so cool!" Nejire exclaimed. "Aw, I really wish we could have met sooner! We would've all been best friends!"

Music started playing from the loudspeaker again, and this time it was a more upbeat song. All around them, people started getting up and dancing on the beach. Nejire squealed and hopped to her feet, tugging at Yuyu's arm until she got up and followed her. They both watched the girls as they started dancing. It was mainly Nejire jumping around to the beat of the music while Yuyu laughed and Nejire tried to get her to join her antics. Tamaki couldn't help but notice Mirio's giant smile as he watched his friends goof around to the music.

"D-Did you want to go too?" Tamaki asked Mirio. He shrugged.

"I don't mind staying here with you if you want,"

"You don't have to do that. You should go have fun if you want to."

Mirio shook his head. "I'm not going to leave you alone. That would make me a bad date, you know?" He chuckled, and Tamaki's heart skipped a beat.

"D-Date?" He whispered under his breath. Mirio offered to get up and get them drinks, and he agreed without really hearing him. He was too caught up in thinking about a second meaning to Mirio's words. He was still thinking about it after another hour had passed and more than just one more drink too.

It wasn't his first time drinking alcohol, but it was probably the first time he'd drank so much at one time, and it wasn't long before he started feeling the effects. An hour and a half later, he was feeling relaxed enough to go out to the beach and dance with Mirio to one of the slow songs that played.

The hours blurred together along with the music and all the people in suits and dresses dancing around them. Tamaki realized he was having fun and was weirdly thankful for the alcohol. After another hour had passed, he had to sit down because his head was starting to swirl a bit.

Mirio sat down beside him, a lingering smile on his face. "Are you having fun?"

Tamaki nodded. "Y-Yeah, I am. Thank you,"

"Of course," Mirio leaned over and rested his chin on Tamaki's shoulder with a small sigh. "Hey, uh...if you want, we can go somewhere else? Somewhere a little more private?"

He inhaled sharply at the suggestion, but he had to admit he wasn't against it. He blushed, unable to verbally agree, but nodded. Mirio grinned and stood, holding out a hand for him. They made sure no one was around to see them before entering the beach house. Mirio clicked the lock behind them before they sat down on the loveseat.

**_Sorry, this chapter is a little short! But next week's chapter will be the final chapter! I already have it all planned out, and I think you guys are going to love it. Also, I know this chapter ended a bit weird but it's because I originally kept writing after that paragraph until I realized I was getting past my word limit and I didn't want it to drag on, but then I ended up having to delete like 200 words and...yeah. Anyways, hopefully no one minds. Especially considering I'm planning to really draw out the last chapter to make it a good ending for you guys. Thanks for reading, see you guys next time!_**


	12. twelve

**_Hello everybody and welcome to the FINAL CHAPTER of Luminescence! This book was very fun for me to write, but I decided to go ahead and end it here because there comes a time where continuing it will only ruin the story, and I feel like if I were to continue after this then that's what would happen. Also, I should warn you guys that this chapter contains some somewhat NSFW content...I mean it's not really that NSFW so it could probably be classified as "spicy but SFW," but it'll still probably be super awkwardly written and horrible but I tried, so...hopefully it's not too cringey to look at. Hopefully, you guys end up liking it. And thank you all so, so much for reading this book and sticking with me through TWELVE WEEKS of actually consistent updates. I am very proud of this book because it was the very first time I have ever created an update schedule and stuck to it. I've never done it before and I can't believe I actually did it. I'm very proud of myself for it. I hope you all enjoyed it because I certainly did. Enjoy the final chapter and make sure to let me know in the comments how much you enjoyed it and what else you'd like to see from me. I have an Aizawa book in the works, so you all can look forward to that. It won't be strongly ship-based, although there will be lots of mentions of things from the Vigilantes manga, so if you haven't read that, then I definitely suggest you do. It's amazing. The book will be based on a headcanon created by one of my favorite cosplayers, keicosplei on TikTok. You should also go check them out because their Koichi is amazing. I love their cosplays. I also have a kind of Zosan mini-story in my drafts, but I'm not sure when that will be finished. Anyways, I'll shut up now and let you guys read the chapter. Remember to leave me comments and let me know what else you'd like me to write! Enjoy!_**

Almost immediately, Mirio reached over and wrapped his arms around his neck, practically falling over him. Tamaki tensed up and tried to keep himself from shaking. What was this supposed to mean? Did he want to do...that? Or did he honestly just want to get away from the crowd for a while? Or maybe he'd suggested it for his sake? Tamaki had no clue, and if he was being honest, the relaxing effect of the alcohol was beginning to backfire.

"Tamaki?" Mirio pulled away. "Are you okay? You're...shaking,"

"I-I'm sorry!" He squeezed his eyes shut, wrapping his arms around himself. "I'm sorry!"

"Tamaki?" Now Mirio sounded concerned. He put a gentle hand on his shoulder while Tamaki turned away, trying and failing not to give in to the burning in his eyes. "Tamaki, what's wrong?"

"I'm sorry," He said again. "I-It's just that...I can't take it anymore."

"What are you talking about?" Mirio's hand dropped. "Do you...not like me?"

"No!" Tamaki rushed to deny that. The last thing he wanted was for Mirio to think he didn't like him because it was the furthest thing from the truth. "That's not it at all, I swear! It's that...I like you a lot! A-And I can't take this...this not knowing, this d-doubt anymore! I need to be sure!"

"Be sure of what? Tamaki, please, just talk to me."

Tamaki took a deep breath and turned back around, but he couldn't seem to get himself to make eye contact. "I've been thinking about this ever since we got back from the nature reserve. What...What does this all mean?"

Mirio frowned. "I...don't think I understand."

"I'm confused about everything!" Tamaki pulled his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. He pressed his face in between his knees to hide the tears that were starting to fall. "You kissed me at the nature reserve, and then you keep doing all these things a couple would do, but we never really talked about if we're actually a couple or not!" By the time he'd finished and everything was off his chest, the material of his pants were soaked with tears.

A silence fell over them. For a long time, the only sound was Tamaki taking deep breaths to try and calm himself down. He felt like hours passed before he finally felt Mirio scoot closer to him and gently tug on his arm. He lifted his head and immediately was engulfed in Mirio's arms.

He let out a squeak of surprise at the movement but didn't pull away. Mirio hugged him even tighter, burying his face into the crook of his neck. The silence dragged on, but now it didn't feel as tense. After a few seconds, Tamaki relaxed into his arms, dropping his knees to let Mirio get even closer and wrapping his own arms around him and laying his head on his shoulder.

Several minutes went by before Mirio finally spoke. "I'm so sorry, Tamaki." He whispered. "I shouldn't have just assumed you felt the same way I do. I should have asked."

Tamaki buried his face into the crook of his neck, still blinking away the tears in his eyes. He wasn't even sure why he was crying so much. It was probably the alcohol. "I-It's not your fault," He mumbled. "I was the one overthinking everything."

"Well, let me make it clear to you, right here and right now." Mirio pulled back just enough for them both to look each other in the eyes. "I've liked you from the very first moment we met. I think you're the most beautiful, talented, extraordinary person in the world, and I couldn't think of a greater honor than being allowed to date you. I was so happy when you accepted me at the reserve that I didn't even think to try and clarify our relationship, but I'm doing it now. Tamaki Amajiki...will you please be my boyfriend?"

Tamaki smiled. "Of course I will...thank you!" He hurried to return to the hug, and Mirio complied. They stayed like that for a long time, just enjoying the feeling of each other in their arms while they listened to the faint sounds of music and laughter from outside.

Mirio was the first to pull away after about five minutes. "Hey, we don't have to stay anymore if you don't want to. The girls will understand. We can...head back to my place for the night."

Tamaki blushed, but he realized he didn't want to turn down the offer, even with such a clear double meaning. He nodded and Mirio smiled, getting to his feet and grabbing his hand. They were careful to make sure no one saw them leaving the beach house before walking back up the beach and to the parking lot. This time around, the drive back to the city was filled with only the soft music from the radio. Mirio didn't let go of Tamaki's hand once the entire time.

By the time they made it back to the apartment, Tamaki had replayed the entire night in his head twice, and he was for once confident in the decision he was making. Mirio parked in the same spot as before and they both got out at the same time. The lobby was empty, thankfully, probably because it was getting really late.

They took the stairs up to Mirio's apartment and it only took him a few seconds to take out his keys and unlock the door. They didn't even bother to take off the jackets of their suits before they were on each other. Mirio grabbed the collar of his dress shirt and gently tugged him forwards. Tamaki didn't resist, simply letting himself be pulled into the kiss and immediately melting into his touch.

Somehow he ended up being pressed against the thankfully closed door while they kissed and after some time his legs began to get weak. Mirio noticed this and smiled against his lips. "Do you want to sit down and continue this?"

Tamaki nodded with a small noise of agreement, making Mirio chuckle. In a single, fluid movement he had picked him up and was carrying him into the living room to the couch. He sat down while still carrying him so he ended up sitting on top of Mirio's lap.

Mirio sat forward enough to reach his lips again, and they quickly fell back into the same rhythm as before. Slowly, Tamaki raised his hands and placed them on Mirio's shoulders, letting out a small moan and shivering when he felt Mirio's hand brush against the bare skin of his hip.

Mirio chuckled. "I hardly did anything, and this is the reaction you give me?"

Tamaki pulled back and turned his face so that it was hidden by his bangs. "I-I was just...surprised."

Mirio smiled and used his thumb and index finger to move his chin back towards him. He leaned forwards and pressed a long, sweet kiss on his lips. "You're adorable."

Tamaki's face was on fire, but Mirio provided a distraction by tilting his head to the side and pressing his face to his neck. He gasped as he felt the light scrape and bite of teeth against the sensitive skin on his neck, but as Mirio continued with the action, he found himself shivering in delight. He would gently bite down or scrape his teeth against his skin before soothing the spot with his tongue, even occasionally going so far as to suck on the skin in a way that was sure to leave a mark.

Tamaki was a total mess, and Mirio was clearly enjoying every second of it. He'd lost track of the time, but three distinctive marks later he finally pulled away and grinned. For the very first time, Tamaki saw that his smile didn't look cheerful so much as it did...devious. He blushed involuntarily before he'd even opened his mouth to voice his question.

"Do you want to continue this in the bedroom, or do you want to stop here?"

Tamaki shook his head. "N-No, I want to keep going."

Mirio waited a few seconds for confirmation before nodding. Tamaki got off his lap and stood. Once Mirio was on his feet, he took Tamaki's hand and directed him down the short hallway to his bedroom. As soon as they were inside, Mirio grabbed the collar of his dress shirt again and kissed him, this time being a bit more forceful. Tamaki moaned unconsciously, allowing Mirio access to his mouth at the same time.

Somehow, they managed to stumble the rest of the way to the bed, and Mirio's weight was directly above him, pinning him to the bed. They didn't part except for the brief seconds it took for them to discard of clothing, and even that was hurried in their rush to come back together as quickly as possible.

The entire experience was so...unreal to Tamaki. Like something he would watch on a TV screen or read in a book. It all just seemed like a dream. One absolutely amazing dream that he wished would never come to an end. A few hours later, lying completely naked under the covers and snuggled up to Mirio's equally bare chest, he was sure he was going to wake up to find that it had all been a figment of his own imagination. He ended up falling asleep to the soothing sound of Mirio's breathing and heartbeat, more relaxed in that moment than ever before.

The next morning, the first thing he heard was what sounded like a knock and then footsteps, but since he was still in that hazy area between being awake and being asleep, he didn't think about what could have been making those noises. He simply groaned in slight annoyance and turned to nuzzle back into Mirio's chest. It wasn't until the sound of the door being roughly pushed open startled him awake that he realized someone else was inside the apartment, and now, the room.

"Aha!" A familiar bubbly voice exclaimed, immediately waking him up. He sat up only to duck back down again at the sight of the blue-haired girl standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips, clearly proud of herself for having caught them. "So this is where you two went!"

Tamaki's face exploded with heat and he sunk as low as he possibly could under the covers, hiding his face and chest as well as he could. Not like it was going to hide much. Obviously, Nejire had already seen all she needed to see. Beside him, he heard Mirio groan and roll over before slowly sitting up with a yawn.

"What's going on?" He asked, his voice husky from sleep. "Nejire? Why are you here? Shouldn't you be on your honeymoon by now?"

"We don't have to be at the airport for another hour and a half, so I decided to come see why you two left without telling us last night. But," Tamaki could hear the teasing smile in her sing-song tone even if he was still covering his face with the blankets. "I guess I figured it out already. My bad, I didn't mean to interrupt anything. I guess I'll be going now!" Tamaki heard the sound of the door closing and cautiously lowered the blanket just enough for his eyes to be revealed. The door was shut again, and Nejire was gone.

Breathing a sigh of relief, he lowered the blanket the rest of the way, but the heat that had spread down from his face to his neck and shoulders stubbornly remained. He hunched his shoulders up over his ears on instinct, doing everything he possibly could to not think about what had happened between him and Mirio the previous night.

Suddenly, Mirio was there, wrapping his arms around him from behind and resting the side of his head on the back of his neck. "Sorry about that," He whispered. "She has a key to the apartment, so I guess she let herself in. But don't worry. The only person she might tell is Yuyu."

"Th-That's a relief," He mumbled. Mirio hummed in agreement.

It was several minutes before Tamaki remembered something important and he jumped, startling Mirio into pulling away. "What, what is it? What's wrong?"

"It's Monday, I have work!" Tamaki exclaimed, tossing the covers aside and rushing around the room to try and find his clothes before he remembered that all he'd brought with him was the suit from last night.

He heard Mirio stand up and start rustling through one of his dresser drawers. When he glanced up, he was holding out a fresh change of clothes; jeans and a red, short sleeve shirt. "Here, these have been getting too small for me lately. They should fit you."

"Th-Thank you," he didn't have time to stop and think about Fatgum and Kirishima at the office noticing him wearing clothes that were so obviously not his style. He took the clothes down the hall to the bathroom to change. Once he had finished changing, he exited the bathroom only to find Mirio waiting for him, holding his keys, phone, and wallet.

He handed them to him with a grin. "You can come get the suit after work today. I'll wash it for you. Oh, and here," He pulled a small key from his pocket and handed it to him. "That's a spare key to the apartment. Feel free to come by anytime, alright?"

"I--yeah...thank you," He wanted to say more, but if he stuck around any longer he would probably be in serious trouble. So he added the key to his keychain and put it in his pocket. He started to head for the door when a thought occurred to him.

He turned back around and faced Mirio, who had walked him to the door. Gathering up every bit of courage he could muster, he stood on his tiptoes in order to reach him and pressed his lips to Mirio's in a short kiss. It didn't last very long, but it still managed to make him start blushing again. "S-See you tonight?" He asked.

Mirio was still slightly surprised at Tamaki's bold move, but he got over it quickly enough. He grinned. "Of course. I don't plan on going a single day without seeing you. And that's a promise."

**_Thank you all so very much for reading! I hope you'll stick around to see the projects I do in the future! Speaking of which, I've actually recently published a Miritama Hanahaki AU! It's titled Bloody Petals, and as of right now there is a short prologue and the first chapter posted, so you can check that out as well of you want to. Bye, I love you guys!_**


	13. NOT A CHAPTER

Hello! This isn't a chapter (obviously), I just wanted to let everybody know in case you haven't already seen it; I've posted a special oneshot to go along with this story. It details the smut scene that I didn't write in the last chapter for those of you who were disappointed by it.

Here is the link: https/s/13620636

Or you can always just go to my profile and find it under "Luminescence Special"

And thank you all once again for reading!!


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